If you’re studying the Bible or just trying to learn more, I have some great tools for you. These can help explain what you’re reading and help you gain a deeper understanding of God’s word.
Reading or listening to the actual Bible is best. But sometimes you need some help understanding what you see or what you hear. I have found two resources that can be very helpful and they do a great job reviewing scriptures with an audience. As with any biblical resource you use outside of the actual Bible, you will want to evaluate the credibility and authenticity to help ensure that you’re getting the best information possible.
The first resource is called the Bible Recap. This is an audio podcast by a woman named Tara-Lee Cobble. She is the creator researcher, author, and host. She takes her audience through the whole Bible in one year. Each day, she picks a section of scripture to go through. Depending on the verse, she references the culture at the time, historical facts, word origins and spend some time summarizing the scripture meaning or relevance. She even mentions any belief differences some Christians may have and offers resources if you want to research anything mentioned. I don’t know Tara-Lee or have any affiliation with her, or her show, but I have found her work helpful and so have a lot of other people. As of today, there’ve been over 300 million downloads of this podcast all over the world. You will find a nice sense of community with other listeners and Tara-Lee offers encouragement to the group as they all read each section together. The episodes are clearly labeled with books of the Bible and verses, so you can start listening no matter where or when you start the Bible. The podcast is available in English and Spanish, and they offer small group resources if you want to go through the Bible with your own group.
The second resource I want to tell you about is a YouTube podcast called the Bible Project it is a nonprofit, crowdfunded, organization that makes free videos to help people experience the Bible.
They have over 4 million subscribers and videos from Genesis to Revelation as well as various biblical topics and it’s available in over 50 languages. The videos that summarize each book of the Bible are short, about 7 to 12 minutes long, and follow a simple to understand format. They have an adult oriented, animated style that goes through the major themes and events that happened. They’re organized by Old Testament and New Testament playlist and have had millions of views .
The Bible Recap and the Bible Project are great to listen or watch before, after, or while you’re going through the actual scripture. They’re not going to tell you everything but if you just need a high level overview or a short summary to supplement your reading. They’re great.
There are so many resources available to help you read and understand the Bible. Audio podcast and videos are great resources but they can never replace the experience of actually reading the Bible. When you physically read the scriptures, it becomes personal. And God can use it to speak to you in your situation or your season of life. The extra resources offer additional perspective or details that can help you deepen your knowledge and understanding but are never a substitute for the real thing.
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