Most congregations have a “scripture reading” in worship. From my experience, these Scripture readings are typically pretty short, maybe two or three verses, followed by a 30 minute sermon. However, there are some congregations that have incorporated longer scripture readings into their worship. This is a great practice, with a strong biblical precedent.

Shortly after a miraculous victory over the Amorites, the LORD commanded Moses to “Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that I will blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven” (Exodus 17:14). By writing down the details of their victory, the story could be recounted later on, so that the people of Israel could remember what God had done for them.

A short time later, after Moses went up to Sinai to receive commandments from the LORD, he wrote down what he received (Exodus 24:4). Why? Because those words were intended to show Israel how to live and to shape their identity as a people in a covenant relationship with God.

Moses continually warned Israel not to forget God’s laws (Deuteronomy 4:6), and to take every opportunity to teach them to their children (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). Every seven years, scripture was to be read aloud for all the people (Deuteronomy 31:9-13). Reading scripture was never intended to be something that only the priests would do, while everyone else just listened to what the priests had to say about the law. Reading scripture was never something that individuals were simply encouraged to do on their own time when they needed some spiritual encouragement. Reading scripture was something that was important for all Israelites of all ages. From a very early time, God wanted meditation on Scripture to be a major part of the lives of his people.

Shortly after defeating Jericho and Ai, the Israelites read aloud together “all the words of the Law, the blessing and the curse” (Joshua 8:30-35). As they entered the promised land, this public reading of Scripture gave them an important reminder that their success would depend on their faithfulness to God.

Unfortunately, this habit of reading Scripture out loud was lost over time, and as a result, generations arose that “did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel (Judges 2:10). Years later, shortly before the exile, King Josiah did his best to lead Israel to repentance. He did this through publicly reading the Book of the Covenant which was found in the house of the Lord (2 Kings 23:1-3). After the exile, when Israel came back to Jerusalem, Ezra led the people in a multi-day scripture reading marathon, once again leading to a period of repentance (Nehemiah 8:1-17).

In the New Testament, Jesus launched his public ministry by publicly reading aloud from Isaiah 61 (Luke 4:16-21). Paul too used public reading of Scripture to launch into a proclamation of the gospel (Acts 13:14-16). The epistles were expected to be read aloud to the church, and passed along to other congregations who would also read them aloud (1 Thessalonians 5:27; Colossians 4:16).

Reading Scripture out loud congregationally has a long biblical precedent, and is continually tied to greater faithfulness. Reading scripture out loud together helps us to understand who God is, what He has done for us, and how we fit into God’s plans for the world. Reading Scripture shapes the way we view the world, and unifies God’s people around that shared vision. Scripture is the authoritative source for understanding what God expects from us.

If you want to see your entire congregation develop better Bible study, put greater emphasis on the public reading of Scripture.

“Till I come, give attention to reading” (1 Timothy 4:14).