I’m Lisa Lewis Koster, and I have a confession to make.
As a young adult, I knew nothing about the Bible.
Zip.
Zero.
This despite the fact that I grew up going to church!
I got the impression that reading the Bible was a good thing to do, but I could never make it out of Genesis. (I mean, who would open up a book and start reading in the middle of it?) Then I met my husband, joined a new church and began attending Bible study.
The Questions
Gradually, things began to change. But as I worked through numerous studies, I began to wonder how the authors did it.
How did they see things that I didn’t?
How did they find all those verses that connected despite being scattered all over the Bible?
Now I know the answers to these questions – and more – and I’m not keeping them a secret!
The Beginning
My book, Enough: Finding Contentment in a World of Wanting and Wandering, began with a 3” x 5” magazine article I read. I had never heard of this man named Korah, or his rebellion against Moses and Aaron (Numbers 16). In this narrative, it appears that the entire family is wiped out by God’s judgment. But in a census, of all places, it mentions this rebellion. (Tool: Pay attention to things that seem out of place, such as anything that’s not a name written in a census.) And then it says, “but the line of Korah did not die out” (Nu 26:11).
I was hooked! What happened? Who was spared? Why? I searched for all the pieces of the story that I could find. Then, weaving them together, I was able to write an award-winning book! In it, I don’t merely tell the story; I also share the tools I used to find the information.
As I will in my sessions at The Well!
The Key to Understanding the Bible
I’ve been given the moniker “Bible Detective,” because I love searching for (and finding!) connections in Scripture. Bible knowledge is crucial for all Christians, but especially for those of us in ministry. And I have discovered that one of the keys to understanding the Bible is knowing what to look for.
In my breakouts we will explore the Jewish festivals and discover how they are relevant to us today. I’ll be teaching “Jesus and the Jewish Festivals” in two parts (but I’ll fill you in on what you missed if you can only attend one!)
Are the Ancient Jewish Festivals Relevant Today?
You may be wondering why we should pay attention to these ancient festivals. Especially if we’re not Jewish. The most important reason is because Jesus did! Did you know that every time we see Jesus in Jerusalem in the Gospels, He was there to celebrate one of the Jewish festivals? And He used these festivals to reveal some amazing things about Himself.
Leviticus 23 gives us a list of the Jewish festivals. It begins by saying, “These are my appointed festivals, the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies. ‘There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly.” (Lev 23:2-3, NIV).
In the verses above, we see the word “assembly” mentioned twice. (Tool: Repetition is the Bible’s way of highlighting a word, so whenever we see repetition we should take a closer look). The original Hebrew word translated “assembly” is the Hebrew word miqra (mick-rah). A miqra is defined as:
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- A holy time – a time of remembrance, looking back at a time when God intervened on behalf of the Israelites. For instance, on Passover the Israelites remember how the angel of death killed the firstborn sons of the Egyptians but spared the sons of the Israelites.
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- A festival – a celebration of God’s provision. During Passover, the Israelites give thanks for the incoming barley harvest.
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- A rehearsal, which begs the question, what are they rehearsing for?
Come and see me at the Well Conference April 30 – May 2, 2027, where I’ll be answering that question and more! We will look at the festivals, Jesus’ connection to them, and the recently-discovered thread connecting the festivals to life itself!
