Welcome to Bible Fiber, where we explore the textures and shades of the biblical tapestry. I am Shelley Neese, president of The Jerusalem Connection, a Christian organization dedicated to sharing the stories of Israel’s people, both ancient and modern. I am also the author of the book Bible Fiber: A 52-Week Study of the Twelve Minor Prophets, available on Amazon.
I started Bible Fiber in 2020. My husband deployed to the Middle East for a year, and I wanted a productive way to count down the time and spend more time in the Bible. I started with the Twelve Minor Prophets, reading one prophet each month. At the time, I studied Biblical Hebrew as part of my master’s degree in biblical studies and archaeology at The Bible Seminary. That course opened my eyes to the prophets’ poetry in a new way, and I grew slightly addicted to all things related to the biblical prophets. I kept talking to Christians who had one of two experiences with the prophets. They either did not understand them and walked away from the books feeling biblically illiterate. Others cherry-picked verses that seemed applicable to their lives but failed to grasp the prophets’ broader message.
After I finished the Twelve Minor Prophets, I realized Bible Fiber wasn’t just a one-year hobby while my husband was gone. I started a new series on Ezra and Nehemiah. Ezra and Nehemiah feature many pivotal and memorable stories. However, they also include numerous chapters of lists and genealogical records that I normally skip in a devotional reading. Because I am committed to the chapter-by-chapter model, I made myself learn as much from the lists, genealogies, and inventories as from the exciting narratives. And big announcement: I will publish the second Bible Fiber book soon, covering Ezra and Nehemiah. I am doing one last round of edits now before handing the draft over for book formatting.
For the next Bible Fiber series, I took a vote to see which Old Testament book proved hardest for Christian readers. Almost everyone said, Ezekiel. If I am being honest, Ezekiel challenged me just as much. We spent well over a year on a chapter-by-chapter study of the prophet in exile. A real highlight of that study was visiting Masada. I stood in the makeshift synagogue atop the ruins where Israeli archaeologists in the 1960s discovered fragments of an Ezekiel scroll. It was incredible to stand there, looking out at a valley that certainly fit the setting for a valley of dry bones. I read Ezekiel 36, where God promises to regather his people from the nations. God was going to bring them back to their ancestors’ land. He said, “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name” (Ezek. 36:22). Knowing God fulfilled that very promise in 1948 serves as a reminder of God’s faithfulness and his sovereign hand over history.
After Ezekiel, I thought I might retire the podcast. In addition to my position with The Jerusalem Connection, I took on a second role as the coordinator for American Christian Leaders for Israel (ACLI)—a project of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem—USA Branch. However, at the same time, I noticed a concerning rise of antisemitism in America coming from both the right and left. Once-fringe theories about Israel and the Jewish people suddenly became mainstream. Charlie Kirk was murdered, and police jailed the killer with overwhelming incriminating evidence. Yet voices on the right, like Candace Owens, started claiming that Israel killed Charlie. At that point, I realized antisemitic conspiracy theories would poison Christian hearts and minds against Israel and the Jewish people. I lack major worldly power, but I can study and teach the Bible. I decided to extend Bible Fiber one more year. I followed the Jewish reading calendar to go through the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, in one year. I hoped goodness and healing could come from Christians discussing the same Bible stories in their weekly Sunday lunch readings as Jewish people did at their Saturday Shabbat dinners. We needed a reminder that Jews and Christians share the same scriptures, the same call to holiness, and the same values that have bettered the world for millennia. During that time, Jewish friends tuned in to the podcast regularly and emailed me their thoughts and traditions around the text. That response energized me to pick up another study for a new Bible Fiber series.
As many of you know, I participate in excavations at Shiloh during the summer. This fulfills a requirement for my degree program at The Bible Seminary. However, excavating is also a bug that bites some people. They cannot stop, even though the work proves much harder and less glamorous than anyone imagines.
The Associates for Biblical Research (ABR) have dug at Shiloh since 2017. Dr. Scott Stripling directs the dig and serves as the provost of the school where I am currently a graduate student. My student role gave me the opportunity to join the dig over the last two seasons.
While previous expeditions focused extensively on the storage rooms along the southern and eastern slopes, the ABR team explicitly set their sights on the northern slope and the northwestern sector of the tel. They have three focused archaeological objectives: understand the sacrificial system at Shiloh, excavate the area suspected to house the Tabernacle, and locate the city gate.
Despite previous excavations led by other teams, no one had located the Tabernacle platform or the gate. I am happy to report that Stripling and his team likely found all three. Each season they feel more confident in the identification.
While at Shiloh last summer, I decided to teach a Bible series on 1 and 2 Samuel. The excavation team at Shiloh memorized almost every detail of the first four chapters of 1 Samuel. Those chapters explain what happened at Shiloh and detail how priests conducted worship and sacrifice. They tell the stories of major figures like Eli, Hannah, and Samuel, who changed the course of Jewish history. First Samuel also leaves out much that archaeology helps illuminate about Shiloh. I look forward to starting this study with a bang and sharing Dig Shiloh discoveries that give even more color to the biblical narrative.
I never intended for Bible Fiber to become a multiyear series. Yet each time I close out a book, I feel newly enthusiastic about sharing a new part of the Bible. Throughout much of Bible Fiber’s life, we studied the least-read books of the Bible, like the Minor Prophets and Ezekiel. That changed with the Torah series, and it remains different with 1 and 2 Samuel. These represent some of the most famous, loved, and bewildering stories in the whole Bible. When we studied the prophets, we pieced together their biographies. Most of them remained stingy with personal details. As God’s mouthpieces, they delivered only the oracles God gave them and provided little narrative. The books of Samuel do the opposite. These books feature larger-than-life characters and hold back no biographical details, good or bad.
Next week we officially start the study. Before I do, I want to share a little about my purpose and process. First, I refuse to teach a book that I lack the minimal qualifications to handle. I am a biblical studies and archaeology student focusing on the Old Testament. As president of The Jerusalem Connection, I see Old Testament studies as central to our mission. We are a Christian Zionist organization that advocates for the Jewish state and seeks to build connections between Jews and Christians today. The anti-Zionist cacophony of voices all promote the idea that the modern state of Israel shares no connection with the biblical Jewish nation. I reject that as a wrong and dangerous idea. The Jewish people possess one long, running story. We get to watch it unfold from the beginning, told through a theological lens meant to help people everywhere live lives more pleasing to our creator.
Many Christians tend to read only the New Testament. I get it. Jesus is amazing! Nothing he says ever offends or slides off the reader as irrelevant. The red words of our Bible form the climax and the epiphany. They hold up a mirror to our souls. Never stop reading the New Testament! My personal calling, however, is to help Christians connect those dots in their minds. The Hebrew scriptures serve as the long prelude. They build the messianic hope. They establish the ideal that God intended for his creation to flourish. They reflect God’s heartbreak when his people fail to live up to his ideals. They give us the language of sacrificial love, monotheistic convictions, and prophecies that should still cut us to our core. They show how far every society falls compared to God’s standards for justice, mercy, equality, and compassion.
As for my process—and this goes out to all the Bible nerds listening—I read at least five commentaries each week on the relevant chapter. I believe in the Tim Keller model. I aim to study ten hours for every ten minutes that I actually teach. I always read the New International Commentary on the Old Testament (NICOT). My kids joke that I read the same book for six years straight because the volumes all share the same cover. They’re my bread and butter. I met some of the authors of the prophetic NICOT series, and I felt the same way other people do when meeting Ariana Grande. These books pack dense information! I probably mention only five percent of what I learn from them because the deep scholarship does not translate easily to podcast teaching. I also read the Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (TOTC) and the New American Commentary (NAC) for each chapter that we are studying.
Publisher editorial boards commission specific Old Testament scholars to write individual volumes for major series like the three I just mentioned. They select specialists who have dedicated their academic careers, and often their doctoral research, to the specific biblical book they are assigned.
Scholars often spend a decade or more completing a single volume. For example, the scholar commissioned to write the NICOT volumes on Samuel, David Toshio Tsumura, published The First Book of Samuel in 2007 and did not finish The Second Book of Samuel until 2019—twelve years later.
I also read commentaries that challenge my own thoughts and education. Walter Brueggemann published his famous commentary on Samuel in the Interpretation series. He approaches the biblical text through a socio-political and poetic lens, which differs significantly from my own framework. However, I appreciate his thought-provoking perspectives and his writing, even though I sometimes disagree with his conclusions.
I read the passage in several translations, and I encourage you to do the same. Try to read it on the Bible app in the NIV and the NRSVUE. I know listeners use several different translations when following along with the podcast. I always use the NRSVUE. It remains my favorite, especially for the prophets. I could record an entire podcast series explaining why I prefer it. I hold no judgment at all if you prefer the NIV, ESV, or even The Message. When I give Bibles to people who are new to God’s word and need their hearts to hear it first, I usually give The Message. I am no translation snob. I simply want people to read the Bible, let it penetrate their lives, think for themselves, and always seek out more.
That wraps up this week. Please join me next week for our first peek into the books of Samuel. I am also trying something new this season by adding video to Bible Fiber. I avoided this step for a long time. For six years, I recorded inside my closet. The sound works better in there, and I never wanted to worry about my hair. I bought a better microphone and upgraded my software. I hope the audio still sounds decent. Now, my parents can at least see my face as I talk Bible. If for no one else, it’s at least for them.