Legend tells us that The Twelve Days of Christmas
was a secret catechism during times of persecution.
For these twelve days let’s focus on twelve teachings:
The Fifth Day of Christmas
Five Golden Rings
The first five books of the Bible are known as The Torah.
The Jews call it “the Law.”
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy reveal three main things: 1) the condition of the world (the creation and the Fall), 2) the calling of a people, Israel, and 3) rules for how to fashion a society.
These five books are the heart of Jewish theology. Most revere these five books like Christians know and love the Gospels. It tells them their identity. It continually binds them together as an ordered society.
Christians treasure these five books as well. Why? Because it’s part one of our story too. The coming of Jesus doesn’t make sense until we understand the creation and the fall. We don’t understand God’s love for his people, until we understand God’s continued care for Israel. Yes, these five books – also called the Penteteuch – are still an indispensable foundation for faith.
So … here’s the question: Why five golden rings to represent these books?
The Bible wasn’t originally written on pages in a book, but on long scrolls. The scrolls were obviously rolled up. In formal synagogues, what held these five scrolls together? You guessed it: five golden rings.
In Christ’s Love,
a guy who would choose
Genesis and Exodus as two
of his five indispensible books,
(If I was only allowed
to read only five for
the rest of my life.)
P.S. the other three are:
Mark (or one of the Gospels),
Romans (or maybe Ephesians)
and Psalms.
(Those would be my five golden rings)
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