The Two Main Barriers to Reading the Old Testament

My brother, who attended a Bible College during a smart-alecky phase in his life, enjoyed shocking groups of believers by sharing his “life verse.” After listening to others quote pious phrases from Proverbs, Romans, or Ephesians, he would stand and with a perfectly straight face recite this verse very rapidly: At Parbar westward, four at the causeway, and two at Parbar. 1 Chronicles 26:18.

Other students would screw up their faces and wonder what deep spiritual insight they were missing. Perhaps he was speaking another language? If my brother felt in a particularly ornery mood, he…