It makes me a little crazy when people talk about doing a “Bible study” and then mention the book they bought to do the study, which may or may not even have them opening up the Scriptures. Sometimes the study they are doing is simply character development using Scriptural principles with scattered verses in it. Friends, Bible Study is digging into God’s word to see what He has to say. The Bible is a treasure trove of wisdom, God’s love letter to His church. Take time to see what it is that He is saying to you!

When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests.  Deuteronmy 17:18

Journible: The 17:18 Series: Proverbs
by Robert M. Wynalda, Joel R. Beeke

Published by Reformation Heritage Books
Publication Date November 13, 2009
Genres: Bible Study Helps
Pages: 224

Synopsis:

Why the 17:18 series?
In Deuteronomy 17, Moses is leaving final instructions concerning the future of Israel. As a prophet of God, Moses foretells of when Israel will place a king over the nation (v. 14). In verse 18, the king is commanded to not simply acquire a copy of the law (the entire book of Deuteronomy) from the scroll publishing house, but to hand write his own copy of the law. Thirty-four hundred years later, educators are discovering that students that physically write out their notes by hand have a much greater retention rate than simply hearing or visually reading the information. Apparently, God knew this to be true of the kings of Israel also. From such understanding came the conception of this series of books.

How to Use These Books
Each book is organized so that you can write out your very own copy of Scripture. You will be writing the Bible text only on the right hand page of the book. This should make for easier writing and also allows ample space on the left page to write your own notes and comments. From time to time a question or word will be lightly printed on the left page; these questions are to aid in further study, but should not interfere with your own notes and comments.

I would like to thank Celebrate Lit for giving me this copy of the book. This gift did not influence my opinion or review.

I once heard that the speed in which we move determines the kind of details we notice. If you fly over someplace on an airplane, you will see buildings and landscaping. Driving by in a car, you will see people and some details on buildings and trees and bushes. If you ride a bicycle, then you will perhaps notice even more details, but it isn’t until you slow to a walk that you can truly appreciate the fine details of the things you are passing by.

I think the same holds true of the books we read. If you are reading the story, you are going through a paragraph at a time, if you will. The Journible brings you to a word-by-word pace through the Bible. I found that as I was copying the verses, I repeated each word and phrase in my head multiple times, causing me to pay more attention to the message. I first read it, then I repeated it to myself as I wrote, and then I reread to confirm I copied it correctly, etc. The Journible is a great tool for meditating on God’s word.

Here are some of my impressions of the book itself.

• The book is hardcover, with a nice binding – it looks nice for keeping in a prominent place
• Each college-ruled page has a heading with the chapter and the verses that will go on the page. The lines are numbered for the verses that go there. I was amazed at how each time, the amount of space allotted for the verses was just right. How did they know how much room my writing would take?  🙂
• Designed for copying text on the right side only, the left-hand page is available for notes about what you have read. Occasionally there are questions printed there to give suggestions for things to ponder about the verses
• The Bible text is not in the book, so you need to have one to copy from. This does give you the freedom to choose your translation. I thought that I would be able to do this from my recliner, and I kinda made it work by using my tablet for the text, but it is probably best to do this at a table where you can spread out.
• The book does not stay open very well, so trying to hold it open and write at the same time was a little awkward. The thought occurred to me of just picking up a Moleskine journal for this purpose, though it would be hard to find ones that are exactly the right size for containing the Scriptures being copied
• The verse numbers are super close to the binding making them a little difficult to see

Overall, I really like the idea of this as an heirloom to be passed on from parent or grandparent to their (grand) children. The look is elegant and could become a treasured possession. I know I greatly appreciate my aunt’s Bible with her notes.

I do have a hard time seeing myself using this as a study aide going forward once I have the Scripture copied here. As careful as I am, my writing is just not that fantastic and combined with my struggling to keep the book open as I wrote, it would be better for me to use a complete set of Scriptures for regular reading and study.

Regardless of the tool you use, I strongly suggest picking a book of the Bible and writing out your own copy of it to experience the beautiful details of God’s word in a rich, new way.

The 17:18 Series

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