What's three thousand years old but still as new as tomorrow's sunrise?

It's a hard question, especially in our world when new software released today makes yesterday's version instantly obsolete.

So, what's old and new at the same time? Not computer programs or things, only ideas, and the books that bring those ideas into our minds and hearts.

The Bible is that kind of book. Its stories tell about friendship, love of God and each other, about fear and hatred and war. For three thousand years its stories have excited and comforted people of many faiths. Today, as always, people find in the Bible a direction -- a way to live.

The Bible

Thunder shook the mountain, shofars blared, and smoke and flames filled the desert sky. The crowd of Israelites was too frightened to move. They closed their eyes, covered their ears, and shivered. Moses, their leader, was gone. He had climbed the dark mountain to speak to God. First he had dragged them out of Egypt, and then he had left them alone in this thundering desert. They didn't know if he'd ever come back.

When Moses finally stepped out of the smoke and clouds, the Israelites cried with relief. He was carrying the Ten Commandments, God's gift to the Jewish people. And he also brought the laws of the Bible, which God had taught him on Mount Sinai. Now, finally, the people felt safe. God and Moses and the Bible would lead them through every danger and bring them to the Promised Land.

Sounds good -- but that's not exactly what happened. The Israelites did accept the Ten Commandments. But they soon started whining. They were hungry, or homesick for Egypt, or their feet hurt, or they needed a drink, or they were scared. A lot of the time they disobeyed the Bible's rules. Moses and God had to scold and punish the Israelites. And then they had to feed and comfort them to keep the going. Finally, after a hard, forty year walk, the people of Israel reached their land.

That walk through the desert happened about thirty-three hundred years ago. And the Bible has been part of Jewish life ever since. Like the Israelites in the desert, Jews today sometimes complain about the laws and customs that have grown from the Bible. But reading and understanding the Bible give many people a feeling of purpose and meaning in their lives. It gives others a sense of God's role in the world. The Bible is here with us today as it was in the days of Moses.