Character in Context: Recent Episodes
thebestoftimesisnow
Archives of the weekly Character in Context radio program. Historical Bible context and character. Updated Friday afternoon.
There is so much context here! But what stands out in Genesis 22 more than anything are the conflicting emotions and turmoil. Tired of platitudes and pat answers to the hard questions? Me too. There is a lot going on here that too many people don’t even want to acknowledge. This is a text tailor made to be wrestled with and we aren’t given any easy answers to important questions so why pretend otherwise? Sometimes, in order to be our ally in our faith walk, the Bible must eschew easy interpretations to force us to hunt for the meat hidden within.
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2024/11/episode-194-the-akeida-genesis-22-for-grownups/
YouTube: https://youtu.be/W9jW5zKoJAg
Although what we see today in Jerusalem is more like tabernacling for a week in some pretty elaborate, luxurious, and comfortable “temporary dwellings,” the original command to observe the festival of Sukkot was a memorial to those difficult wilderness years when diligently following the cloud and fire and gathering the daily manna was a mater of life and death. How does this relate to Yeshua’s/Jesus’s command to “follow me”? Why does this change everything in heaven and on earth?
YouTube: https://youtu.be/Azv6kB2HM_A
Yom Kippur, apart from being the holiest day of the year, was also the happiest. There’s just something about setting things right with God that is incredibly satisfying. Yes there was fasting and somber reflection because it isn’t joyous to have to watch the High Priest clean up the defilement of the community through blood cleansing, and it wouldn’t have been appropriate to be feasting, but there was also this very real phenomenon of wiping clean the slates in heaven and on earth.
YouTube: https://youtu.be/ipC3haFqoV0
Chag Sameach! Happy Rosh Hashanah/Yom Teruah/Feast of Trumpets! This is a series I did for an online conference back when I was younger and thinner and not hacking up a lung. Just kidding, my lungs are right where they belong but they aren’t happy about it. Since I am under the weather this year in a big way (I shouldn’t hug and kiss sick people but that’s why I get everything that comes through this house), I decided to pull this out of my online conference archives and publish it. Parts 2 and 3 about Yom Kippur and Sukkot coming soon!
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2024/09/episode-191-tishri-1-and-the-great-cosmic-kingship-reset/
YouTube: https://youtu.be/YeXP5evLieI
I can’t even begin to tell you how happy I am that I can teach this chapter without having to go into gory details about sexual nonsense and, as such, anyone can listen to this Context for Kids supplemental teaching on the first portion of Gen 21, which covers the birth of Isaac and the exile of Ishmael and Hagar. Things won’t get awkward again until Gen 29, thankfully—at least not in ways I would end up in an ankle bracelet for talking to kids about.
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2024/08/episode-190-gen-21-for-the-grownups-part-1/
YouTube: https://youtu.be/eoneP_humoc
I am about to begin teaching the kids about Genesis 20 and 21 over on Context for Kids and so it is time to explore the disturbing implications of what is said in Genesis 20 back to what wasn't said in Genesis 12 when Pharaoh took Sarai.
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2024/06/episode-189-genesis-20-abrahams-sister-a-headache-of-a-chapter/
YouTube: https://youtu.be/CD1jhyK8sZU
Ugh. When I started my Context for Kids radio show, I was just dreading this series. Genesis 19—really the only chapter in the Bible I would want to teach even less is Judges 19. But, I can’t skip it over, right? I will be teaching the kids Genesis 19 interpretation by using the prophets and how they viewed and spoke about Sodom—as an unhospitable and oppressively wicked society—and leave sex out of it. But you guys need to be able to answer the hard questions that would get me fitted for an ankle bracelet if I tried it. This is a brutal, deep dive into the ancient Near Eastern context of the account of the destruction of the cities of the plain and so you’ll likely be hearing things you’ve never heard before such as the ancient practice of shaming via gang rape, and the dyadic community mindset that drove Lot’s daughters to incest. Not for the faint of heart. Not for little kids.
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2024/04/episode-188-stuff-i-cant-teach-kids-about-sodom-and-gomorrah/
YouTube: https://youtu.be/TdWB3d3SeNg
Now that we’ve covered the ancient rules for hospitality, I want to talk about the commonly misunderstood accounts of Rahab, Yael and Abigail. And we’ll also talk about how the world had changed by the time of the apostles with a quick look at Lydia.
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2024/03/episode-187-hospitality-or-not-rahab-yael-abigail-and-lydia-in-context/
YouTube: https://youtu.be/nbEgohsMR00
Genesis chapters 18 and 19 read as very shallow morality tales without an intimate understanding of the social dynamics going on in the arena of hospitality expectations. This is the first of two teachings describing the established parameters and rituals associated with dealing with strangers to a community and the who, what, when, where and why’s of offering sustenance and lodging. What did Abraham do right? What did Lot do wrong? This is where we can begin to understand these two complex chapters of Scripture—as well as Judges 19.
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2024/02/episode-186-hospitality-family-and-travel-in-the-days-of-sodom/
YouTube: https://youtu.be/xHsnfgK7Vsk
This is a companion and more intensive lesson for adults based upon my current series on Context for Kids on "being like Jesus."
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2024/01/episode-185-are-we-modeling-good-fruit-or-folly/
YouTube: https://youtu.be/qh8SjoSnwiA
A huge early theme of the Gospel of Matthew that carries throughout is the portrayal of Yeshua as the latter and greater Moses. In addition to this, He also declares Himself to be greater than the Temple and a whole lot of other sacred cows of the first century. This week we will investigate these claims and find out why they are so important to Matthew’s particular audience.
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/11/episode-184-the-gospel-of-matthew-3-the-greater-than-motif-second-moses/
YouTube: https://youtu.be/6zimKlSuW0k
What is the Kingdom of Heaven and how does it differ (if at all) from the Kingdom of God spoken of by Mark and Luke? How is it to be compared with the Kingdom of the Beast and the worldly systems of honor and shame culture?
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/11/episode-183-gospel-of-matthew-2-honor-and-shame-in-the-kingdom-of-heaven/
YouTube: https://youtu.be/RYrRBigIdo0
Why is the Gospel of Matthew called a biography when it looks absolutely nothing like our modern biographies? What were the rules of writing an ancient life story and how did Matthew use this genre to communicate the story of the Messiah to his very unique audience at a very tumultuous time in history?
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/10/episode-182-matthew-1-the-who-what-why-and-when-of-the-first-gospel/
YouTube: https://youtu.be/_RMRv0sxLRI
When I teach the kids, they call me Miss Tyler, but today I am Auntie Tyler. Privilege is a concept that appears all over the Bible and in every sort of literature within it. Privilege is incredibly important within the Biblical narrative--but why? I want to peel back a lot of the rhetoric, talking points, and misinformation out there to take a hard look at how Christians should view privilege and what it should mean in the life of the Body of Christ.
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/10/episode-181-privilege-what-it-is-isnt-and-why-it-matters/
YouTube: https://youtu.be/Omp1KQJaJ1c
Or maybe you think they don’t need to learn about Circumcision. Fair enough, but I can’t teach them anything about Genesis 17 and the foundation of the Land Grant Covenant without dealing with it. Neither of us can teach them about the important Scriptural meta-narrative of the circumcision of the heart that they will need to understand in order to live as disciples in the New Creation life we want for them. I will also be talking frankly about the importance of being open and honest with our kids about body parts and sex because if we can’t do that, then they won’t have adequate guides in us for learning the Bible. And when they do have questions, they will find someone else. In addition, I also talk about the importance of calling things what they are, without shame, and how it prevents sexual abuse.
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/09/episode-180-help-me-c4k-my-kids-need-to-learn-about-circumcision/
YouTube: https://youtu.be/iYhEwnr0uJE
There are many misconceptions about Yom Kippur but the most grievous is the lack of understanding of exactly what is cleansed and what is forgiven and what is not. Yom Kippur was good news for the community but not necessarily for the individual so this week we will talk about why.
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/09/episode-179-what-yom-kippur-cant-fix/
YouTube: https://youtu.be/G46UG2EHPm8
There is so much debate about this Psalm. Not only does it contain two words that we don’t know what the heck they mean, but the context is quite the mystery. Is the Psalmist (David?) being lied about? Are the Kingdom elites resorting to Ba’al worship in order to bring an end to a famine? Is this Psalm 3 part 2 where David’s advisors are defecting to Absalom? Lots of questions and lots of debate.
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/09/episode-178-psalm-4-what-on-earth-is-going-on-here/
YouTube: https://youtu.be/42lW87CiS08
What is a Psalm of David? Or is it a Psalm by David? A Psalm in the style of David or about him? This week we will talk about irritating Hebrew conjunctions and why context is incredibly important—and sometimes unknowable. And what about the fourteen titled Psalms? How do we read this one in light of David and Absalom? The Bible is a messy book about messy people and messy situations and so this Psalm is going to be really messy too.
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/09/episode-177-psalm-3-mimzor-ldavid/
YouTube: https://youtu.be/IXKgCjbL4DA
Psalm 2 is one of the most famous “Messianic” psalms out there but it also pairs with Psalm 1 to teach the readers how to view the entire collection of hymns, laments, and royal tributes. How do Psalm1 and Psalm 2 work as a team in introducing the rest of the psalter? Why is it important for wisdom and kingship to dwell side by side in Covenant relations?
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/08/episode-176-psalm-2-more-than-messianic/
YouTube: https://youtu.be/fyonTJg9AjM
This is the beginning of a new series exploring the Psalms. I am going to alternate between the Psalms and the Gospel of Matthew because knowing the Psalms will help with understanding this Gospel and Yeshua’s/Jesus’s role as the Greater Moses as well as the Greater David. It won’t be obvious at first, but after a while it really will begin to make sense.
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/07/episode-175-psalm-1/
YouTube: https://youtu.be/05Vnl-DvsgU
I have actually been dreading this moment since I began the Context for Kids radio show and knew that one day, I would have to cover the Biblical account of Abram and Sarai’s use of Hagar to produce a child. In context, it’s an ugly tale, albeit a common one in the ancient world. I can’t be as blunt about the situation with the kids as I can be with adults and so I am devoting a program over on this side of my ministry with the hopes of helping adults know how to teach children about what is going on in this chapter from beginning to end. As these sorts of accounts are often used in the cultish justification of sexual abuses in the Church, kids really do need to have a decent working knowledge that this sort of situation isn’t okay.
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/07/episode-174-help-how-do-i-explain-hagars-story-to-my-kids/
Youtube: https://youtu.be/yDki5L7lTNk
What is inerrancy? Depends on who you ask. And yet, with so many definitions and no absolute agreement even on the basics, people sure do a lot of fighting about it. It’s a word that means different things to different people and so, based on what we have covered so far in the study series, what can we believe about the Bible? And does the Bible claim to be inerrant, or something else entirely?
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/06/episode-173-the-study-series-18-inerrancy-inspiration-and-authority/
YouTube: https://youtu.be/MSzugzF9s-w
How come, when forty percent of the Psalms are laments, plus whole sections of the prophets and the entire book of Lamentations, are worship songs so focused on how hunky-dory life is? Sure, some of the Psalms are praises, but there are fewer praises than sad songs of complaint and hopelessness. As my next series is going to be about the Psalms, it is important that we have a healthy and balanced perspective on how psalms work, what we should expect to find in them, and what they tell us about how to relate to God.
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/06/episode-172-the-study-series-17-psalms-and-laments/
YouTube: https://youtu.be/m5w8Q_7z604
We’re almost done with genre studies, I promise, so next week will be it. But this time, we have to look at the differences between the Sermons that Yeshua/Jesus delivered and the letters to specific congregations written by Paul, Peter, James and others. When we read a letter (aka epistle) as though it is a sermon, it can lead to some really bad problems. Maybe most importantly, how are we supposed to read the “law codes” in the Bible?
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/06/episode-171-the-study-series-16-the-torah-the-sermons-and-the-problem-with-epistles/
YouTube: https://youtu.be/c0yX5u1iclg
Last summer, I did a series on my kids show about gender identity issues and I wrote this at that time to help adults understand how it is absolutely not the kids or just the liberal media who have created this problem—we’ve been just as bad and even worse as believers. How can that be? What can we do? This week we are going to explore just that. There is an extensive book list on this issue at the end of my transcript.
My series for kids can be found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu85aHCKqEA&list=PLyGci9v9u1suH86q2pBxL3jL5pmfiuR0m
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/05/episode-170-why-gender-and-identity-confusion-are-all-your-faultand-mine-too/
Alonso Schökel once said that “what has been written with imagination must be read with imagination,” and although we completely understand the difference between reading one of Shakespeare’s sonnets and Shirer’s Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, we tend not to do that with Biblical poetry, which makes up roughly a third of the Hebrew Scriptures. We have the same problem when we don’t understand the original purpose of wisdom literature in general, and parables and allegories. Learning how to read these will revolutionize your Bible studies.
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/04/episode-169-the-study-series-15-wisdom-literature-poetry-parables-and-allegories/
We’re going to look at Daniel, Revelation, and Enoch within the context of post-exilic Israel to find out what an apocalypse is, what it isn’t, and how the original audience would have read it. We’ll also cover what the Prophets are and are not, as well as historical narratives and how getting these confused with Apocalyptic writings make the popular books on Revelation not even worth the paper they are printed on.
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/04/episode-168-the-study-series-14-apocalyptic-literature-vs-prophecy-vs-historical-narratives/
Translation isn’t an exact science and there is no “one true interpretation”—not in any language. Translators have to look at words in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek and then make hard choices about which word in their own language would be the best substitute. And not every word can be translated easily—some can’t be translated at all because the original meaning of the word was lost. Also, sometimes Paul simply seems to have made up words by putting two actual words together. Words like dayenu, shema, ubuntu, and many others throughout the world cannot be translated without using a whole sentence or phrase. In addition, when the Bible was first written down, there were no vowel points in Hebrew and there were no spaces between words in Greek—who the heck thought that was a good idea anyway?
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/04/episode-167-study-series-13-your-bible-is-an-interpretation/
If you have ever sent me a question asking me about such and such, I will almost always ask you for the book, chapter and verse. Not because I don’t know my Bible, but because I respect it enough not to lean on the Holy Spirit to teach me something out of context. Who a section of Scripture is addressed to is just important as who the speaker is, what situation is being addressed, the genre type, and what the historical reality is. When we don’t know these things, we can turn the Bible into a cherry-picker’s idea of paradise where anything can mean whatever we want it to mean.
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/03/episode-166-the-study-series-12-the-speaker-audience-and-context-of-verses/
One of the most misunderstood and definitely the most misused Bible study aid is Strong’s Concordance. Today we’re going to find out what the problem is, what a Concordance is and isn’t and what it should and shouldn’t be used for. Warning: this lesson will likely make you wince at a lot of YouTube sermons.Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/03/episode-165-study-11-binding-the-strongs-man-how-not-to-use-a-concordance/
The book of Esther is a thrilling story to read about and yet we rarely look into what this would have been like to live through for the two very brave and virtuous (yes, both of them) Queens who had to walk a knife edge within the world of honor/shame dynamics where a shamed woman could easily wind up a dead woman.For families, I recommend the more child-friendly content that I will be putting out on Wednesday at contextforkids.podbean.com and contextforkids.comTranscript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/02/episode-164-purim-2023-honor-shame-and-two-brave-queens/
You might be wondering why we need to talk about religion when we are already studying the Bible—but religion in the ancient world was nothing like what we experience today. There was no separation between “church and state” or church and anything. Religion was everything and everything was religious. We’re going to tie ancient religion into their pre-scientific beliefs, and we are also going to talk about some of the wrong ways to treat ancient words in modern interpretations.Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/02/episode-163-sociology-ii-religion-weird-science-and-practical-linguistics/
Anyone who knows me knows that ancient sociology is my absolute favorite aspect of Biblical context. Today we’ll talk about the ancient community identity, and the differences between Holy and Profane/Common as well as Clean vs Unclean. They are all entirely different but once you understand them, the Bible makes a whole lot more sense!Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/02/episode-162-sociology-i-groupthink-holy-profane-and-clean-unclean/
Sometimes we forget that the Gospels contain three, and not just two, advent accounts because the arrival of “Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord” was anticipated almost as much as the coming of the Messiah Himself! And it’s an exciting story full of angelic visitations, a barren older mamma, a prophetic unborn child, and a dad who is quite literally speechless!Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2022/12/episode-161-the-advent-of-john-the-baptist-in-luke/
As this is the time of year when a third of the world is focused on the birth of Immanuel, and many believe that Hannukah was the time of His divine conception, I wanted to spend a few weeks learning about the account that Matthew and Luke dedicated two chapters each teaching us. This week we will learn Joseph’s story in the Gospel of Matthew. What better time of year to become educated about the answer to so many Jewish prayers for so long?Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2022/12/episode-160-special-teaching-1-the-advent-of-the-messiah-in-matthew/
I have always enjoyed teaching the ancient art of polemic but I have never actually taught Biblical irony before and I can tell you that it is absolutely a game changer for understanding how the Bible works, how the Kingdom of Heaven works, and how God works. I really enjoyed putting this one together, and I have some great book recommendations for you. Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2022/12/episode-189-the-study-series-understanding-polemic-and-irony/
Can the Bible be understood literally? At face value? Was it meant to be understood that way and what does that even mean? This week, we will talk about communication and how figures of speech (anthropomorphisms, metaphors, and similes) have to be accepted on their own terms so that we don’t misunderstand the intention of the passages.
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2022/11/episode-158-the-study-series-understanding-rhetoric-locution-and-figures-of-speech/
When we look at the Bible as just one book with one kind of literature and don’t learn how to do “resets” based on what exactly we are reading, we can really misunderstand and misinterpret the text. What is Genre and why is it so important for understanding what different parts of Scripture are and aren’t useful for? How can we get into trouble when we try to make all of the Bible fit into one kind of box?
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2022/11/episode-157-the-study-series-reading-the-bible-as-a-library-not-as-a-book/
How and why did the transmission of Scripture change in the first century and beyond? How did they get from the spoken words of John the Baptist and Yeshua/Jesus to the epistles of Paul and written Gospel accounts—and more importantly, why did they do it? What does it mean for us today in terms of God’s ongoing relational quest to communicate with His people?
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2022/10/episode-156-the-study-series-reading-the-bible-as-it-was-meant-to-be-heard-3/
This week we will continue with the discussion of how Scripture was originally presented and experienced--orally as a relational conversation between God and mankind and as wisdom literature. We will look at how things began to change due to Persian and Greek influences and will segue into the ongoing controversy over the Apocryphal books and how an avoidance of and a loss of knowledge of Hebrew led to it.
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2022/10/episode-155-the-study-series-reading-the-bible-as-it-was-meant-to-be-heard-2/
I apologize for uploading the episode from last week again this week! Thanks to my friend Elizabeth for catching that! It's fixed now!
What do the Parable of the Wicked Tenants, the eighth day, the pilgrimage festivals, and the Fruit of the Spirit all have in common? Everything.
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2022/10/episode-154-sukkot-and-the-mystery-of-the-eighth-day/
No, I am not suddenly endorsing the Rapture hypothesis but I am going to talk about how it is incompatible with any idea of white American (like me) and European Christians qualifying for it based on both Isaiah 58 and Matthew 25 and the historical reality of the persecuted church worldwide never being snatched from far worse than we can even imagine. This is a clarion call to all of us to bear fruit in keeping with repentance, without which, all the fasting in the world won’t impress God. For those of you unfamiliar with my pre-Yom Kippur broadcasts, just know that I don’t pull my punches.
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2022/10/episode-153-yom-kippur-and-the-rapture/
I can’t stress enough how important it is to understand the ancient Hebrew view of authority and what makes a text inerrant and what does not. We’re going to start exploring what it means to the Body corporately and to us as individuals when we are aware that the Bible was never written to be read but to be heard. It means, among other things, that we have to look at the Bible as a community text and not as a personal one. Neither is it a scientific text. Neither was it finally written down in order to be read but instead to be archived. What is the Bible and what was it never intended to be?
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2022/09/episode-152-the-study-series-reading-the-bible-as-it-was-meant-to-be-heard-1/
I can’t stress enough how important it is to understand the ancient Hebrew view of authority and what makes a text inerrant and what does not. We’re going to start exploring what it means to the Body corporately and to us as individuals when we are aware that the Bible was never written to be read but to be heard. It means, among other things, that we have to look at the Bible as a community text and not as a personal one. Neither is it a scientific text. Neither was it finally written down in order to be read but instead to be archived. What is the Bible and what was it never intended to be?
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2022/09/episode-152-the-study-series-reading-the-bible-as-it-was-meant-to-be-heard-1/
Last week I talked about the red flags to avoid while building a library and I even named names on some of the worst of the resources. This week, I am going to share not only how to build a terrific library but also the difference between primary, secondary and tertiary resources. I will also be posting my resource list for this series in a separate blog that I will link as soon as I get done putting it together. No secrets or mysteries here.
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2022/09/episode-151-the-study-series-good-source-or-bad-source-part-2/
My Facebook E-Book Sale Page: https://www.facebook.com/TDRScholarlyBookSales
Last week I talked about the red flags to avoid while building a library and I even named names on some of the worst of the resources. This week, I am going to share not only how to build a terrific library but also the difference between primary, secondary and tertiary resources. I will also be posting my resource list for this series in a separate blog that I will link as soon as I get done putting it together. No secrets or mysteries here.
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2022/09/episode-151-the-study-series-good-source-or-bad-source-part-2/
My Facebook E-Book Sale Page: https://www.facebook.com/TDRScholarlyBookSales
One of the most important first steps in really getting serious about Bible context studies is to get yourself a good quality library (and learning how not to misuse it) without investing in stinkers or spending more money than you have to. This week, we’re going to look at the most common red flags that will keep you from buying books that should have never been printed, and avoiding common YouTube and Google mistakes.
My Facebook E-Book Sale Page: https://www.facebook.com/TDRScholarlyBookSales
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2022/09/episode-150-the-study-series-good-source-or-bad-source-part-1/
One of the most important first steps in really getting serious about Bible context studies is to get yourself a good quality library (and learning how not to misuse it) without investing in stinkers or spending more money than you have to. This week, we’re going to look at the most common red flags that will keep you from buying books that should have never been printed, and avoiding common YouTube and Google mistakes.
My Facebook E-Book Sale Page: https://www.facebook.com/TDRScholarlyBookSales
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2022/09/episode-150-the-study-series-good-source-or-bad-source-part-1/
At long last, the last episode about the Gospel of Mark and this one has a lot more context and controversy that most. We’re going to go through the entirety of chapter 16, including all four of the proposed endings—but are any of them the original? We will also talk about the legality of using women as witnesses during those times within Judaism.
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2022/09/episode-149-mark-74-the-empty-tomb-and-the-contested-verses/
I promised a report on the amazing things that happened in Texas at the conference and so here is a small taste of the miracles, friendship and healing I experienced over a weekend that I freely admit to dreading but so glad I went.
https://www.younityfitness.com/conferences
She's already planning a bigger and better sequel because this one completely sold out and the attendees are already clamoring for another!
First off, I had an AMAZING weekend with the most wonderful group of ladies at the Surge Conference over the weekend in Texas. I had a miraculous healing that will allow me to travel and I will share that next week!
But Monday was bizarre--as it always the case when we have spiritual triumphs, right? And so I was subjected to some false accusations about what I do and do not support, teach, and say in two private Facebook groups which cater to a grand total of 800 members, while what I actually say was twisted and misrepresented. In a classic case of "Church as usual" because the poster was an admin, there was an argument about whether the post should be removed which took shamefully too long in the (much) smaller group and is still ongoing in the second. He is still an admin in good standing in both groups but I am not going to name names. My goal here is to address the accusations of heresy because my primary ministry is to children and I cannot allow the accusations to scare parents away. Parents, of course, need to be careful. I understand that and so I am always very careful about what I present to their children. I have asked God to judge between them and I because I trust Him. This isn't the first time I have been lied about and slandered by people who don't fact check (and if they had fact checked and look at the current series I am teaching to children they would have simply rolled their eyes) and it won't be the last, but I am taking a page out of the playbook of Mister Rogers and stopping to address only those accusations which could end up hurting children.
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2022/08/episode-147-the-sin-of-sodom-and-setting-the-record-straight-on-recent-accusations-of-heresy/
This was a homeschool conference talk I gave over the weekend and fair warning--it is not for the faint of heart. I directly tackle the reason so many kids are walking away from the Bible and their faith and deconstructing after being homeschooled. But it also applies to churched kids in general. What happens when we teach our kids to think critically about everything EXCEPT the Bible and about faith and about our own interpretations and doctrines? It's an easy mistake to make even without meaning to. Let's explore the problems and how to reverse is so that if our kids do deconstruct, they will still have the building materials to reconstruct a better and stronger faith.
Context for Kids www.contextforkids.com
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2022/08/episode-146-critical-failure-why-are-so-many-homeschooled-adults-abandoning-the-bible/
Which Preparation day was this? The day before the Passover or the day before the Sabbath or something else entirely? We’ll explore this controversy by pulling together some information that might surprise you! What was the significance of Joseph of Arimathea claiming the body of Yeshua/Jesus?
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2022/07/episode-145-mark-73-good-friday/
There is far more to the account of Yeshua’s/Jesus’s death than meets the eye. We’re going to be talking about the Tamid offerings and their timing, the cosmic event language in Matthew and Mark concerning the darkness and the torn veil, and the importance of the Centurion’s declaration that, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
Transcript https://theancientbridge.com/2022/07/episode-144-mark-72-the-ninth-hour-and-the-centurions-declaration/
This week we will continue with Yeshua/Jesus in the background as the world takes center stage against Him. This week is very context heavy, from the proposed location of Golgotha, the properties of myrrh, the rights of Roman soldiers, the hours of prayer, the controversy of cross vs tree vs stake, to the importance of the titles King of the Jews and King of Israel.
Something that generally goes unnoticed in chapter fifteen is that Yeshua/Jesus has ceased to be the main character, replaced by a multitude of “they” references. He is no longer the actor but the acted upon. What does this have to do with the forces of chaos, evil, sin, and death? And where exactly did the crucifixion take place?
So, at long last we are beginning the most harrowing chapter of the Gospel of Mark—chapter fifteen. Chapter fourteen ended with a condemnation of death, but one without any teeth because the power over life and death in Judea belonged entirely to Pontius Pilate, who was so cruel that he managed to achieve modern war criminal status during peacetime and even the Romans couldn't deal with him anymore. It is here that Yeshua/Jesus becomes a mere pawn in political power games—or so it seems.
When I wrote The Bridge: Crossing Over into the Fulness of Covenant Life, it was for the purpose of bringing people together who didn't understand one another. On one hand, we had the burgeoning "Torah movement" of Christians who were discovering the delights of the Sabbath and Festivals, and the benefits of eating cleaner and on the other hand we had their families who were taught that this was legalistic. And no one was really behaving themselves or really listening and so people got needlessly angry and when people are angry, they are very likely to believe the worst about one another. And so they did--and we all forgot that we were saved at the Cross and not when we came to a certain level of knowledge. I gave a talk like this a couple of months back to an online group and I am recreating it from my notes today. My notes will be in the transcript at www.theancientbridge.com but it will not be the usual full transcript.
HE IS RISEN! Although we take it for granted, it was very controversial among both Jews and Gentiles--but why? We will look at this obscure day on the Biblical Calendar, what it meant in the first century, and why Yeshua's fulfillment of it is the most important event in the history of the world. We'll also talk about why it is the foundation of our faith and what it means to live in belief and why so many of us really don't.
This is our last encounter with Peter in this Gospel and what a horrible end it is. Of course, we know the other side of the story, but in the Gospel traditionally credited as being Peter’s recollections he makes no effort to paint himself as a great hero of the faith or to restore his reputation--instead, it paves the way to tell the greater story of the One who did not fail and led the Greater Exodus promised by Isaiah. As we finish up chapter 14 this week, we are going to come face to face with our own frailty as well as his, and especially as it compared to the parallel account of Yeshua’s/Jesus's trial.
Now that the controversy over the status of the hearing itself has been covered, let’s look at another big scholarly debate—what exactly triggered the blasphemy charge? It isn’t as obvious as it may appear once we take extra-biblical accounts from that same time period into account.
Before we go forward with the trial, we need to talk about the difference between the sort of Sanhedrin Josephus chronicled during the first century, and the more Biblical Beth Din described in Mishnah Tractate Sanhedrin. The difference is extremely important for understanding exactly what was going on and whether it was a Kangaroo Court or not.
As the prophecies begin to come true, the disciples are shocked and scattered—and probably more than just a bit crushed to discover that Yeshua won’t be leading a Messianic uprising after all.
This week we are going to make good use of my last year spent studying laments in Hebrew scripture and culture. We’ll talk about the word Abba and what it does and does not mean, and whether or not Gethsemane was actually a garden or if the word points to something other than the traditional understanding.
This is both a beautiful and dreadful section of scripture. Beautiful because Yeshua/Jesus is revealing how the Passover is redefined through His ministry, and dreadful because of Peter’s proud assurances that he will never deny His Master—and calling Him a false prophet in the process.
Before we get into the actual breaking of the bread and drinking of the wine, we need to talk about the Passover in the first century and what we can know (and can’t know) about it through contemporary writings. Not contemporary to us but contemporary to Yeshua/Jesus and His followers.
Was the Last Supper a Passover seder or not? John and the Synoptics seem to disagree. But this week what we are really going to ask is: "Is that even the right question or are we missing the bigger theological picture of what the author of Mark (as well as Matthew, Luke, and John) was trying to communicate to us?" Lots to discuss this week about ancient Hospitality laws and social etiquette.
This week we are going to talk about the Greek word paradidomi, translated as handed over, betrayed, delivered over, etc. in both the Gospels and in the Greek OT, the Septuagint. What does the way paradidomi was used in translating the prophets teach us about Yeshua’s/Jesus’s betrayal?
I am back and I am going to talk very briefly about why the episodes stopped and what has been going on over the last five months. As for this episode, I was writing out Mark part 61 concerning the Passover, and about two pages in, I realized that not everyone would be familiar with the Biblical calendar so we’ll be covering that today. We’ll be covering all four Biblical new years mentioned in Scripture but with a special emphasis, obviously, on the festival calendar because—you know, Passover is the subject of the final three chapters in Mark. These will no longer be airing on HNR because I just can't keep up with both shows nonstop and have decided to air only Context for Kids on HNR. Coming up with an hour and a half of material every week is just way too much and the kid's show is more important to me.
We knew how to celebrate and love Christmas, but a lot of people really struggle when coming into the Biblical festivals and especially Sukkot. We’re going to take a look at some really common challenges based on a great conversation on my social media wall and come up with some solutions and we’re also going to talk about that elusive spiritual fruit of joy—which doesn’t mean being happy all the time!
The Prosperity Gospel comes in many forms—all of them smacking of paganism and an extreme misreading of the purpose of blessings and curses in the Bible and oftentimes a lopsided cherry-picking of wisdom literature. As this aberration curses those who we are commanded to bless, we’re going to talk about how believers should respond to the reality that not everyone who seems blessed has their blessings due to righteousness and not everyone who seems cursed has their troubles due to unrighteousness.
Traditionally, the barren women of Scripture are studied and celebrated on Rosh HaShanah—so why are they historically considered cursed and sometimes even experience persecution by other women? And what does Proverbs 31 woman have to say about the perfect wife/woman?
Yeah, you guys get the picture. I have my snark on for this one. Yeshua/Jesus is pretty specific here but we don't like it so we try to find workarounds. Let's look at these final verses of the Olivet Discourse in Mark 13 to find out exactly what He is and is not saying.
What is the huge deal here about the Son of Man coming on the clouds and what does it tell us about the identity of Yeshua/Jesus? And fig trees again? Did the fig tree growers association have an endorsement deal with the writers or is there a deeper meaning to be found here?
Such a controversial subject and we are going to look at some of the leading theories as to when this was as well as some more off the beaten path proposals. And just what is it that the reader is directed to understand?
Here, at the beginning of the Olivet Discourse, the longest speech in Mark and perhaps the oldest written document about Yeshua/Jesus, Yeshua responds to the disciples question of “When the heck is the Temple going to be destroyed??!!” with a bunch of false signs which won’t tell them much of anything because, as He says, “These are all just part of normal life.” And so why, when so many non-scholars read them, do they get moved out of the immediate context and into predictions of still future events?
The destruction of the Temple Herod rebuilt marked the end of Jewish life as they had known it. The Temple marked the center of Jewish culture, Jewish religion, Jewish worship, Jewish hopes, Jewish nationalism, and Jewish identity. To call it the end of the world as they knew it is to severely misrepresent what it was like for them. This week, we will look at the writings of Josephus, Tacitus, and other historians at the Jewish war of 66-70 CE and the destruction of the Temple by Titus in 70 CE.
Mark 13 is filled with apocalyptic symbolism and prophecy—but is it pointing to what we presume it us? We’re going to do a quick and dirty crash course in the genre of Jewish apocalypse. We’re going to clarify and clean up the reality and wrong assumptions about prophecy in Scripture. And we will find out what eschatology means and how it relates to Mark 13, if at all.
The son of a social media friend committed suicide back in February and while talking about it, I realized how shamefully the believing community fails to serve those who are suicidal, clinically depressed, and mentally ill. Part of the problem is a terrible misunderstanding of what the word Pharmakeia meant in the ancient world and the tendency for modern people to look at a word and judge the ancient context by what related terms mean today. As this misunderstanding adversely affects those who need our help the most, we’ll be looking at Pharmakeia in the Greco-Roman world and also at what it is actually most like today—and the results may shock you.
This is a real controversial topic within some fringe Torah groups and I was asked to address it from a Biblical/historical perspective. Last week, I talked about male and female-identified religion and the dangers—and this is a big draw for some men. So, we’re going to look at what the Bible does and does not say about it. Is it ever spoken of in a positive way? What is the fruit? What restrictions did Yeshua/Jesus put on marriage and what did Paul have to say about polygynists in leadership?
Hey all! The Dire Straits is upon us—that three-week period before the 9th of Av when like all heck breaks lose spiritually. We’re starting out the next few weeks with a break before diving into Mark 13 and 14, and I am going to cover three (at least) topics that people have been requesting I discuss. This week I want to talk about those pesky people who used to be believers before denying Yeshua/Jesus and then become stealth missionaries for the other side, actively manipulating people by presenting the Bible out of context for the sole purpose of slowly converting people away from our Messiah. I will use that as a segue into the problem of male and female identified religions—which is where people who go this path will often end up. Men and couples into more male-identified modes of religious life and women into neo-paganism. After watching this happen for the last eight years, there is a definite trend and I want to talk about how and why it happens.
Lest all the scribes get credit for the wisdom and honesty of the one (remember, the ones attached to the Sanhedrin have decided to get rid of him at this point), Yeshua takes the group of them to task for, among other things, oppressing the vulnerable and namely, widows. And what is the tragedy of the “Widow’s Mite” that is so often missed?
Lest we make the mistake of thinking that all scribes are against Yeshua/Jesus, we have a wonderful encounter here and gasp an honest question for a change. After Yeshua answers, no one dares approach Him again—and after He brings up His own controversy about the Son of David in Psalm 110, the leadership has no choice but to follow Him or kill Him.
After being bested in their challenge to Yeshua’s/Jesus’s authority, the Sanhedrin delegation sends in the Pharisees and the Herodians, who have been plotting together since Mark 3:6 as to how to destroy Him. Then, the Sadducees, who have gone unmentioned up to this point, take a stab at tripping Him up. Exactly how does that work out for them?
When read in context, this comes off as nothing short of a terrifying political thriller. And as such, we should not be shocked to learn that this is the moment when Yeshua/Jesus purposefully signs His own death warrant—not at His mock trial but here with a terrible accusation, made in parable form against the Jerusalem power-brokers.
In the first of five (or four or six depending on which scholar you agree with) controversy dialogues on the Temple Mount before Passover, Yeshua/Jesus deftly captures the chief priests, scribes and elders in their own trap. They demand to know what right He had to shut down Temple commerce the previous day, and He demands that they take a stand on whether or not John was a prophet—putting them in the hot seat no matter which answer they give. Also, we are going to talk about the Constitutionality of the Ten Commandments and whether or not Christians can really claim that certain rights are rights at all.
The kingship of David appears to be in direct violation of the Mosaic Law—or is it? As Ruth is traditionally studied in celebration of Shavuot/Pentecost, I want to tackle this important question.
This is a very commonly misinterpreted section of Scripture when we don’t see the “Markan sandwich” which tells us to interpret the overturning of tables through the cursing of the fig tree and vice versa. We will be covering a lot of Biblical fig tree references with respect to the coming of the Messiah and the coming of judgment. We will also be analyzing Yeshua’s/Jesus’s actions in light of later Talmudic writings—which come up on his side in this. And we’re going to talk about those horrid memes about Yeshua overturning tables in light of the prophetic actions that were only His to take and not ours.
When looked at as a “Triumph”, military victor’s parade, Yeshua’s/Jesus’s entry leaves a lot to be desired. In fact, He is absolutely snubbed by the very people who would have been required to greet a conquering general or a king with full honors. As such, this is a fitting beginning for the coming condemnation of Jerusalem and the Temple over the course of the following two chapters.
As a preview of chapters 11 and 12, where Yeshua/Jesus condemns and increasingly replaces the Temple as the overlap between Heaven and Earth, we’ll be reviewing some of the “greater than” claims about Yeshua in the Bible and talking about the implications of Malachi, Isaiah and 4QFlor, which discusses the important concept of mikdash adam, the living Temple of the Qumran community.
This is our last “in the way” narrative because next week, Yeshua/Jesus and His disciples enter Jerusalem. As such, this is the most climactic and revealing of Mark’s use of Isaiah 42:16 in highlighting the kind of blindness that was currently upon an Israel looking for a bloodthirsty Messiah instead of a Messiah determined to save not only Israel but also her enemies.
Although the disciples were guilty of shooing away the disabled and children, rich and powerful men make it right up to Yeshua/Jesus without any problems, highlighting their still very worldly mindsets. This young man asks a question that weighs heavily on the minds of many, “What can I do to merit a place in the world to come?” What does this conversation reveal about him, about Yeshua, and about ourselves?
Ever hear about “any cause” divorce? Jewish men in the first-century were committing a terrible crime against the wives of their youth and had come to see it as a right—as though marriage existed solely for their benefit and could be ended at their whim. She burns a meal? You can divorce her. Find someone prettier? You can divorce her. As they believed a man could not be guilty of adultery against His wife, and that adultery was only a crime against another man, Yeshua’s condemnation of their divorce entitlement mindset is particularly damning.
In honor of the Passover this week, I am going to leapfrog over the next two accounts in Mark to tackle the third Passion Prediction in light of the first two, which we have already covered. It is important to explore them as a unit in order to learn how Yeshua was revealing, step by step, the fate that awaited Him in Jerusalem.
The disciples aren’t too thrilled with someone honing in on what they mistakenly believe to be “their territory.” What Yeshua/Jesus has to say to them for getting in the way of another person’s good works should cause us all to pause and reflect on our own priorities and issues.
This week we look at the second Passion Prediction and the disciples’ misplaced sense of ambition. What Yeshua/Jesus tells them about what kind of humility He expects from them would have been revolting in the extreme for any ancient man.
This is an incredibly heart-wrenching account of a father and son locked in an ongoing and deadly battle with a malicious demon—a battle they have been losing. When they go to the disciples for help, they are no help at all! What is the lesson here and what about the controversy over “this kind can’t go out except through prayer and fasting?”
Yeshua/Jesus takes Peter, James, and John to a mountain for different sort of proclamation—but this time the proclamation comes from the ultimate source. And what does this say about Yeshua’s mission and who we are ultimately called to listen to?
Just because I Enoch isn’t Scripture or written by Enoch doesn’t mean it isn’t a vital window into the first century beliefs about Genesis 6 and the introduction of evil practices into the world. What did Mt Hermon mean to first-century Jews and why did Yeshua/Jesus make sure that the big announcement about His identity happened in Caesarea Philippi, on the southern slope of this infamous mountain?
As far north as Yeshua/Jesus will ever travel again during His natural lifetime, it’s time for the secrets to be revealed and His mission laid out. Peter doesn’t like it and gets called Satan for his concerns. But is there more here than meets the eye? It’s our first Messianic reality check and no one liked it.
This is a good example of what is called an acted-out parable. The two-stage healing of blindness is the only episode in the Gospels where someone isn’t healed right away. What is this meant to tell us about our own spiritual state and why is it important to understand before the disciples head to Caesarea Philippi?
Things are heating up and Yeshua/Jesus tries to teach the disciples an important lesson—but they miss it entirely because they have their mind on temporal concerns. What exactly is the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of the Herodians and what does it mean in our own lives?
In a miraculous and frustrating turn of events, the Pharisees from the district of Dalmanutha demand a sign from Heaven shortly after Yeshua/Jesus feeds a mixed multitude, leaving four thousand satisfied. But can the Pharisees be satisfied?
There is so much more to this short little blurb than meets the eye. We’ll be talking about Psalm 135, my book Image-bearing, Idolatry and the New Creation, and two of my all-time favorite books—G K Beale’s We Become What We Worship and Richard Lints’ Identity and Idolatry. This event is enormously symbolic for the future ministry of the disciples but it is easy to miss it.
I don’t think anyone really enjoys reading this account. No matter who you want Yeshua/Jesus to be and what you want Him to conform to—you can’t read this without wincing and realizing that He is what He is and we can’t always predict Him. We’re going to explore history and the pseudepigraphic book of Jubilees in order to explore what I think was really going on here. If only our Savior would stay in a more comfortable box…
This is the second part of last week’s teaching, where Yeshua/Jesus lays down the difference between impurity that can and cannot be washed away. This parable is brutal and takes no prisoners.
It is so unfortunate that so many people on both sides have boiled this brilliant teaching down to a debate about foods being clean, and what counts as food, or even as being about food at all. It isn’t about food! This teaching begins a new phase in the ministry of the Messiah, as He is about to venture out into Gentile lands and must confront the over the top purity standards that would make it impossible for the Gospel to go forth out of Zion to the ends of the world.
Although popular in some circles, the Book of Jubilees is both a mathematical nightmare and what would amount to a comedy of errors if it was funny. That being said, it opens a vitally important window into the ways that Jews in the early years of Hasmonean rule were looking at the Gentiles and allows us a glimpse of what mindsets led to the later development of the differing sects within Judaism. Without this understanding, it is easy to make Mark 7:1-13 to be entirely about food instead of what it was really about--the ability of the Jewish believers in Yeshua/Jesus to take the Gospel into the Gentile world in fulfillment of the words of the Psalmists and the Prophets.
Last year for Hannukah, we talked about the oppressive “traditions of men” vs ordinary traditions that Yeshua/Jesus spoke of in light of the Feast of Dedication mentioned in John 10. This year I am delving deep into the scholarly materials to explore the Zadokite controversy—which purports that the Hasmoneans were illegitimate priests and which has been used to discredit Hannukah. I will also go into the works of Josephus and Megillat Ta'anit to try and figure out where the legend of the “miracle of the oil” came from.
People often claim that Yeshua/Jesus never claimed to be Messiah, or Divine. People are wrong. What can’t be had from a casual reading of some of Scripture is evident from an in-depth knowledge of the whole of Scripture and the claims that Yahweh makes about Himself through His prophets. Last week and this week especially, we cover blatant claims and proof that Yeshua is the one unique Son of God with authority that is not explicable in any other way.
How appropriate is it that this is airing during the week of Thanksgiving in America?
This week's Scripture passage on the feeding of the five thousand is just HUGE for Exodus references and is very heavy on the eschatological wording that we see throughout the Prophets. This is the only miracle account shared in all four Gospel accounts and so we know it must be central to the identity of Yeshua/Jesus being revealed by each of the four authors. So much is happening this week--we will be discussing the importance of the wilderness, of green grass, of shepherds and sheep, of hundreds and fifties. We will go back and talk about Exodus and Numbers and the prophets Isaiah, Zechariah, Ezekiel, Elijah, and Elisha. This account is set in stark contrast with last week's Scripture passage and thus compares the banquet of Herod with the banquet of the Messiah.
This is a super strange episode--even considering the fact that there are a ton of really strange things in the Bible. For starters, Yeshua/Jesus never even makes an appearance in this account, nor do His disciples. What we have is an incredibly detailed account of John the Baptist's Passion in light of Herod Antipas's horror over the thought that Yeshua is actually John the Baptist raised from the dead and therefore vindicated by God after his murder. We'll be talking about Josephus, the book of Esther, the Esther Rabbah midrash, and the sordid history of the Herods. It's enough to make even Jerry Springer or Geraldo Rivera blush. Someone needs to call Judge Judy to deal with this family drama.
This teaching marks the climax of the first part of the Gospel of Mark (there are three sections to this Gospel) as the twelve disciples have been trained, equipped, and are now being sent out in twos throughout the Galilee. We're going to look into why they went out by two's (nothing to do with Noah's Ark!), why they had such specific instructions as what to and what not to bring. And we really need to talk about why people shouldn't be "knocking the dust from their feet" lightly. And we need to talk about the disciples anointing the sick with oil and what that was and was not about.
The blog I mentioned about the two witnesses can be accessed here: http://theancientbridge.com/2020/08/who-are-the-two-witnesses-of-revelation-apocalypse-in-context/
After four incidents of bringing people from four different kinds of death into life and restoration, we would think that Yeshua would be treated to a hero's welcome upon His return to Nazareth. But--not so much. What can we learn from the way He did and didn't handle things?
This teaching, of course, is an extension of last week's account of the healing of the woman with the issue of blood so we will find a lot of parallels. We are going to delve into a very excellent resource in order to learn about ancient Near Eastern mourning rituals that were still relatively unchanged in the first century, as well as look at what the Talmud has to say.
Another death to life story--like the Gerasene demoniac, this woman has experienced a community death and cannot experience normal life among her people. In fact, she is never identified as having anyone at all--no husband, father, mother, siblings, or children. What do her actions teach us not only about faith but about the beliefs of the Hellenistic first-century Jewish world? What do Yeshua's actions teach us about His desire to restore the marginalized?
Lots of extra-biblical material today as we are going to look at the shockingly awful treatments that women were subjected to by Jewish physicians who were trying to treat this sort of bleeding, as well as the debates over when a man could and could not forcibly divorce his wife for being sick.
This amazing account is one of the most famous in all of the Bible--when Yeshua/Jesus and His disciples travel to Gentile territory only to be confronted by a legion of unclean spirits who embark upon an interesting attempt to negotiate their fate. What does the fate of the pigs tell us not only about the difference between humans and animals in God's eyes but also their difference in general? And what did it tell the gathered pagans about the identity of the man responsible for the death of their gods' sacrifices?
What kind of a Father is God, anyway?
This has been a very trying year but there are also miracles and victories all around us. Trials and tribulations never come without deliverances and salvations. Last week our beloved 19-year-old son Andrew's cranial shunt failed unexpectedly, leading to emergency neurosurgery four hours from home, in an entirely different state, during the COVID crisis. How God moved in the midst of the confusion, obstacles and many misdirections is a beautiful picture of His love and compassion. I share the story plus lessons I learned about God's character in the midst of my own worry and fear and share a few reality checks gained after He cornered me into the position of needing to "break" not only the Sabbath but also the first High Sabbath of Sukkot.
For the next four weeks, we will be going back to the theme of the Yahweh Warrior of the prophets. These next four miracles are called "self-manifesting" as they represent Yeshua's true identity--even if everyone is still too blinded to see it now. These four signposts will make His identity obvious only after His resurrection, but that's how acts of predictive prophecy are supposed to function. They aren't obvious until all of a sudden, in retrospect, they are!
So what does the calming of the storm at sea reveal to us about who Yeshua is? Tune in and find out.
Yom Kippur, of course, is when we as the worldwide people of God come corporately before him, humbling ourselves and repenting of our sins as a whole. I like to use the Beatitudes and the rest of the Sermon on the Mount when I look at the "State of the Body" year after year in terms of image-bearing and how we are either growing or backsliding away from what I call the "Kingdom norms" that set us apart from the "Kingdom of the Beast." Last week, I talked very frankly about pornography and how I believe it is one of the invisible Marks that sets us aside as being allied with the oppression and perversion of the Beast Kingdom. This week we are going to talk about how we are doing with the Kingdom commandments in general. Are we all that and a bag of chips or are we representing the wrong kingdom entirely?
As we are heading into Yom Kippur, I want to talk about something I have been very vocal about for many years--namely, pornography use and the fake repentance that keeps believers from just saying no. I pull no punches here. This is not for kids unless you listen first and decide to expose them to this. According to Barna Group, 68% of church-going men and over 50% of pastors view porn on a regular basis. Of young Christian adults 18-24 years old, 76% actively search for porn.
article here: https://conquerseries.com/15-mind-blowing-statistics-about-pornography-and-the-church
This puts users firmly in the camp of the Beast, as we not only neglect the least of these, but oppress and victimize them further. This is going to be an ugly broadcast to listen to but then it is an ugly reality that all too often leads into serious forms of marital and child abuse.
This week we have two more growth parables about Kingdom growth which I am going to supplement with one of my favorite teachings--the very uncomfortable "Galatians sandwich." This is our second to last week in Mark chapter four and it only took us twenty-one weeks to get here!
What's the deal with the lamp on the lampstand? What hidden message is Yeshua/Jesus revealing about Himself and His mission--and not only that, what is He telling us about how He reveals truth to His disciples?
This is a sort of "part two" on the Parable of the Sower as we delve into Isaiah 6 to talk about parallels between God warning His people about upcoming disaster during the reign of King Uzziah and Yeshua crying out to first-century Israel. In both situations, decisions had to be made and loyalties decided that would govern the fate of God's people. But this wasn't a "back then" sort of thing--this is an every day decision.
Yes, I have taught the Parable of the Sower before, but not like this! This time I am going to teach it within the context of not only the agricultural practices of ancient Israel, but I am also going to tie the different kinds of soil in some possibly surprising ways to the disciples.
Teaching this is always emotional for me. We're going to talk about the family of God today, the "fictive" kinship group that joins together every believer from the very beginning (whether we like it or not). Ironically, what brings on this discussion is the episode of rejection by Yeshua's/Jesus's own family who are convinced that he is "existemi" or psychologically deranged. What is membership in the family of God based upon and why was this so controversial?
There are a few questions that every preacher, teacher, and pastor have been asked countless times and one of them is, "What does it mean to blaspheme the Holy Spirit? I am afraid I've done it without knowing it." This week we will be covering the famous Beelzebul controversy and looking into two very serious rejections in Yeshua's/Jesus's life and ministry.
With the five controversy dialogues behind us, what will be the consequences? This week we will start with a brand new theme (while still keeping all the old ones) that will be carried through to the end of the Gospel--insiders vs outsiders. Yeshua/Jesus will respond to His rejection by both the self-proclaimed and semi-official Jewish leadership by choosing the building blocks of his new community. He will begin with the Twelve and build from there. We'll be talking about disciples vs customers and why it is so important that we have the calling of the Twelve directly after being mobbed by those desperate for healing at the seashore.
What's lawful on the Sabbath? To restore a man to the community and to service or to plot a political assassination?
And I want to say a word about looters and rioters vs peaceful protesters and activists and what they have in common with people who adopt fake Hebrew names on social media.
Well, the Pharisees finally decide to get in Yeshua's face for realsies--no more beating around the bush. The debate is over whether it is more important for a poor man to legalistically keep the Sabbath, which fasting for lack of food, or to avail himself of the provision in Torah to eat his fill and celebrate the Sabbath. On one hand, the Pharisees say not to work, on the other hand, they say no fasting is allowed. What will Yeshua do with this catch-22 and how will He begin to set Himself apart as the Greater David, and the Pharisees who oppose Him as the modern-day equivalents of Saul and Doeg the evil shepherd?
The third controversy dialogue! This time, the question is, "why aren't your disciples fasting like the disciples of John and the Pharisees?" Yeshua/Jesus, however, doesn't bother to answer that question. Instead, He asks a better question and answers that one instead--in a very confusing way. This can be a troublesome passage of Scripture because the mini-parable of the wineskin and the torn cloak can be a bit confusing but hopefully, you will come out of this much clearer on the concept that Yeshua was striving to communicate.
What happens when Yeshua/Jesus has the audacity to eat with a Roman collaborator and his sinner friends? The controversies are heating up and, this time, the scribes of the Pharisees are the ones with a beef against the Messiah's choice of eating companions.
The book I mentioned this week is Craig L Blomberg's Contagious Holiness, highly recommended
Nowadays, we take it for granted that Yeshua/Jesus can forgive sins but in this first of the five controversy dialogues of Mark 2/3, it is nothing short of revolutionary and potentially blasphemous to make that claim. So, what's the big deal? This week, we will be looking at the belief, as expressed in the Talmud, that a sick man would not recover unless his sins were forgiven by God first. Up to this point, Yeshua's battles have all been against the demonic and sickness--but now He faces an entirely different kind of opposition--humans.
So, we've finally reached the end of Mark chapter one and I wanted to cover in more depth a concept that I have only hinted at in the past--the Yahweh-Warrior motif of Isaiah and Mark. How on earth are we supposed to pull together all of the images in Scripture of Yahweh as the shepherd and warrior coming personally to save His people and gather in the nations? That's exactly what Mark has been laying out the groundwork for in the first chapter of his Gospel. Exciting stuff!
We're also going to look at pre-Christian Jewish pseudepigraphic writings about the priestly Messiah that bear some interesting similarities to Mark's Gospel--along with some very notable differences.
This week we will be closing up Mark chapter one with the shocking story of Yeshua/Jesus healing the leper. We'll talk about Biblical tzara'at vs modern-day leprosy aka Hansen's disease, and cover a bit of Torah portion Metzora, which covers skin diseases. I will also be talking about lashon hara, evil speech, and what we can learn about how we are to control our tongues based on Miriam's affliction and in light of the George Floyd tragedy.
After Yeshua's triumph on Friday night at the synagogue, he follows Peter home to his mother in law's home and cures her of a fever. The following night, after the Sabbath, the fallout that results from being a miracle worker in an age without modern medicine begins to take its toll. But what's the problem? Certainly, He wants to draw crowds and be famous, right? Isn't that the best way to get people to hear His message? Not so much.
Okay, no more mister nice guy! This week Yeshua/Jesus moves on from his commissioning and calling of disciples in order to start fulfilling His mission as the Yahweh-Warrior, Israel's Savior, by delivering a man of a demon right in the middle of the local Synagogue--resulting in the amazement and approval of the gathered worshippers. We're going to talk about the Sabbath, early synagogues and where they did (and did not) originate, and ancient naming magic--which is what I think the demon was trying unsuccessfully to leverage against Yeshua here.
Here are those archaeology websites for information on Synagogue excavations http://www.pohick.org/sts/index.html and also https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-2000-year-old-synagogue-at-gamla-the-oldest-yet-found-in-israel/
This broadcast is going to be very different than my usual fare. I am going to talk about what it is like to have a stroke and what it is like to be in recovery. It's my hope that by being open and honest about the struggles that people will be able to be a better support to loved ones going through this sort of thing--be it TIA's (transient ischemic attacks or mini-strokes), mild, moderate, or severe strokes or TBI (traumatic brain injuries).
Plus, through a parable, God taught me something incredibly important about His provision and protection and my sometimes ridiculous response to it that might amuse and maybe even edify you.
This week we're going to explore the amazing work of scholar Mendel Nun, who emigrated from Latvia to Israel in 1939 and spent twenty years fishing on the Sea of Galilee as a kibbutz member. As this was before the advent of modern "invisible" nets, he developed first-hand expertise in ancient fishing methods. I am really excited about this episode and about introducing you to the unique work of this brilliant scholar. His insights into the fishing narratives in the Gospels are just so eye-opening. This is a picture of him with nets like the ones that Simon, Andrew, James, and John were using, and would have to be stripped down naked in order to use--in the middle of the night, no less.
Here is a pic of him in his youth--you can see that these fishermen were not wimps! It was hard, back-breaking, dangerous work. Not for the timid.
Last week we talked about the role of John the Baptist but this week the action will transfer over to Yeshua (Jesus) and his baptism and temptation in the wilderness. The Gospel of Mark has a number of significant differences from the accounts found in Matthew and Luke because of the story he wants to tell--namely, how Yeshua ben Yosef from the backwater village of Nazareth is the Greater Exodus fulfillment of Isaiah 40-55. We are also going to take a brief look at 11Q13, better known as the sectarian Melchizedek Scroll.
What do the Hebrew Bible, the Gospels, and Josephus all have to say about John the Baptist? Was he really a Baptist? (That was a joke)
We're going to dig into Isaiah, Malachi and Exodus in order to explore the very unique calling of the older cousin of Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth, as well as his position as a priest.
We're also going to tackle another manufactured controversy--this time about whether or not John was really eating bee honey or date honey.
One of the most common questions I get is "what exactly is the Gospel?" As Mark 1:1 uses that term, we need to explore it and talk about what it is and isn't. I will give you a hint--it isn't the "death, burial and resurrection" of the Messiah since He and His disciples were all recorded as preaching the Gospel before His death, and we all know how clueless His disciples were about His impending death and resurrection.
We're also going to cover the very misused concept of the "Greater Exodus" and talk about how some interpretations have led to some very ethnocentric, technocentric and socioeconomically disastrous doctrines.
The Gospel of Mark points out something very interesting. When referring to Himself, Yeshua (Jesus) uses the term "Son of Man" instead of Messiah. We're going to do a cultural expectation study about what the term Messiah had come to mean to first-century Jews and talk about why Yeshua instead chose the more obscure title "Son of Man."
This week's broadcast touches on COVID-19. I know we were supposed to start in the Gospel of Mark, but I wanted to take some time to address the power of prayer to unite, fear to destroy and the myth of Torah observance (it's just another mantra, like "the law has been done away with"--no one really keeps even all of it that can still conceivably be kept, which I will prove). Some disturbing "prophecies" have popped up from a number of people making claims that all this will be over by the Passover, that this is the fault of the Jews for not accepting the Messiah, that it is the fault of Christians, and (already proven false among people in my own circle) that anyone who keeps the Passover instead of Easter will not be touched by the virus. I've seen the best and worst in people over the course of the last ten days as people respond in various ways to uncertainty and fear, which has been both an eye-opening gift from God and a sobering look at the reality of how far we have to go as a body in order to reflect His character.
Here is the awesome article I mentioned by Doug Friedman http://www.messianicassociation.org/ezine22-df.mosaic-laws-messianic.htm
Thre is no transcript available on my website for this episode. Next week I will be reairing last year's Passover broadcast about crucifixion, the slave's death.
We've finally made it to the end of the series! This week there is an exciting bit of context that I have been sitting on for awhile but I finally feel confident about teaching it. Did you know that the word covenant only appears four times in all of Isaiah 40-55? Twice in reference to the servant who is given as a covenant to/for the people, once in the covenant of peace we talked about last week--but this week we have talk of an "everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David."
Join me as I talk about why I believe this is referring not to the Sinai Covenant, which was already eternal because it was blood ratified, but instead to the kingly Davidic covenant, which I believe was made eternal when it was blood ratified at the Cross.
This chapter looks rather odd when it isn't taught as the (almost) grand finale to Isaiah 40-55 but when taught in context, it is a real tear-jerker. We are invited into the joy and relief of a desperate woman who has been deserted, scorned and bereft as her husband returns for her and restores her to his side. What a love story!
We'll also be talking about another "manufactured controversy" about the word ba'al--because that is what Yahweh calls Himself here. Uh oh...
Yes! In my opinion (which is rarely humble), Isaiah 52:13-53:13 is the most important material in all of the Hebrew Scriptures. Finally, God's plan for the promised end to the relational estrangement between not only God and Israel but also God and the nations will be revealed and the shocking mission of the Servant, the Messiah, revealed.
The teaching I made reference to in the broadcast is Ryan White's The Suffering Servant/The Leper Messiah and can be found on his website FaithofMessiah.com and is free all this month to subscribers at the $10/year level.
This week is very exciting, as we close up the ongoing theme of Yahweh comforting His people and promising them salvation not only from exile but also from the estrangement that exists between them. All of this in preparation for the fourth Servant Song next week—the suffering servant song.
This week we cover the third Servant Song, where the mysterious Servant of Yahweh further sets himself apart from the nation of Israel and we begin to see the legal persecution of the Servant by the ba’al mishpati. We will also explore the preamble to the second Zion song and its connection to The Great Scroll of Isaiah, 1QIs-a and see how the Qumran community taught it as sort of an extra Servant Song.
In light of the marvelous deliverance promised in last week's segment, through the work of the Servant, we would think that Jerusalem would respond with joy and song and exultation! We would be wrong.
The first Servant Song, Is 42:1-9, was fairly vague when it comes to identifying the Servant and His mission, but this week we will be going through the second song verse by verse. The Servant, in the first half, speaks about Himself and what He has been commissioned to do. Then Yahweh responds to the Servant and the earth rejoices.
Isaiah 48 is very much a downer. Israel is repeatedly confronted with the word "shema" which means to both hear and obey--and then they are outright told that they have never heard and never obeyed. Yahweh delivers a very potent warning for those exilic Jews who are going to refuse to leave Babylon when Cyrus sets them free, and it's really easy to point our fingers and shake our heads but--how are we, all of us, still comfortably residing in Babylon when we have been called to be elsewhere?
For those who are Revelation focused, it comes as quite the shock to hear Yahweh call Babylon a vulnerable virgin in Isaiah 47--repeatedly. But then, our view of Babylon has been much confused by some propagandistic fictional writings of the 19th and 20th centuries that were accepted at face value without any sort of comparison with what we know either Biblically or archaeologically. Believe me, the truth about Babylon is important because it changes how certain passages are understood and seriously effects how we should react to how they are thrown around now, often entirely out of context.
I recorded this broadcast four days after the shocking death of Yael Good, the daughter of my beloved friends, Joe and Debbie Good. In the wake of a senseless tragedy, and especially when the throne of God is being bombarded day and night with prayers from countless thousands all over the world, we sometimes feel betrayed, disappointed, bewildered, and even embarrassed. I came up with seven difficult questions and I answered them to the best of my ability. Sometimes, there just are no answers, but that doesn't make the questions wrong. Questions are never wrong.
For those wanting to donate to Yael's funeral and medical fund www.yaelgood.com
Up to this point, things have been pretty grim in Yahweh's disputations with the nations and their gods but now we see a big change. We see a prophesied move of the nations toward faith in the one true God and a growing divide between those who do and do not worship Him. In addition, we are treated to a very humorous caricature of Marduk, the chief God of the city of Babylon, and his son Nebo, the chief god of Borsippa as well as the god of wisdom and scribes.
Next week, our first mention of Babylon--up until now, the nations have been addressed as a monolithic group without any differentiation but now Babylon will be singled out for special attention.
Thank you for your prayers on behalf of Yael and the Good family. She passed into the arms of our Savior yesterday. For those wanting to help with medical and funeral expenses, here is a link: www.yaelgood.com
Yes, the Bible calls a pagan king a Messiah and how Israel responds to him is a foreshadowing of how they will respond to Yeshua/Jesus the Messiah. Exciting stuff!
Here are the two responsible online articles I referenced https://www.ancient.eu/Cyrus_the_Great/ and https://www.britannica.com/biography/Cyrus-the-Great
For those of you who have been praying for Yael Good, the daughter of my Temple teacher Joseph Good and his wife Debbie, please keep up the good work. Yael's eyes opened yesterday. She is still on life support after falling victim to a particularly nasty strain of the flu while on our in Israel and her heart is still a concern, but there is a glimmer of hope today that it will restart and that she will not need a heart transplant. Anyone wanting to support them
https://yaelgood.com/
I was gone in North Carolina at the Founded in Truth Hannukah Conference all week and so I decided to record on one of my favorite subjects--but don't worry, next week we will get back to Isaiah and the Messiah--King Cyrus is up next and we will explore how he foreshadows the later deliverance through the Messiah and the Greater Exodus.
So, this week we are discussing Hannukah and the unfortunate teachings which have led people to believe that Yeshua/Jesus preached against all traditions. Someone even sent me a post where the poster was telling people that even though Yeshua was clearly at the Feast of Dedication in John 10, it was only to rebuke the people for being there (despite absolutely no textual proof). We will be talking at length about the traditions that Yeshua rebuked, the ones He was neutral about, as well as the ones He Himself kept and promoted. The book I referenced in the teaching is Hollisa Alewine's Truth, Tradition or Tare: Growing in the Word. Dr. Alewine's book should be required reading for those who have been mercilessly pummeled with the teachings telling them that they can't do anything unless it is written in the Torah as it is a breath of fresh air and reason.
I recommend checking out this teaching of Dr Alewine's which sheds a lot of light on the situation with the Pharisees. It will ask you to create an account for access, but the teachings are free https://www.myrevivetv.com/programs/pharisee-friend-or-foe?cid=296422
It's crazy that this week just happened to be when this section of Scripture fell into place. Isaiah 44 contains the longest and most detailed idol polemic in all of Scripture and provides the context needed to understand Jeremiah 10:1-16 as well as Habbakuk 2 and even helps to understand Psalm 115. This week we are going to read Isaiah as well as portions of Jeremiah, Habbakuk, the Babylonian Erra Epic, Herodotus and Hittite writings in order to understand the ancient idolatrous mindset and why Yahweh was fighting so hard for the hearts and minds of His people in exile.
This week, we will be covering Isaiah 43 which marks a dramatic turn in the action. We will be talking about regnal names in the ancient world and the polytheistic Law of Continuity that plagued the ancient world with beliefs that the gods are part of the system, and not outside it--leading pagan people into the belief that their gods could not do anything "outside the box." Yahweh, on the other hand, is telling His people to stop thinking in terms of polytheistic limitations and realize that He is outside the system and can, therefore, do whatever He wants to save them and can use whoever He wants--and no one can stand in His way.
This week we will be covering Isaiah chapter 42, where we will be introduced to the one whom Rabbi David Kimchi, Abarbanel and two of the Targums identify as the Messiah. This is a clear allusion to Yeshua/Jesus as the idealized version of Israel as servant--neither blind nor deaf nor rebellious nor violent toward the oppressed, but a bringer of the Law to the ends of the earth. Exciting stuff!
Why is Israel portrayed as holding God's left hand? And what does it have to do with Yeshua/Jesus?
In this week's episode, the comedy-drama really begins in earnest. God demands that the pagan nations and their representative gods come into the courtroom with him and present evidence that they are truly gods--and He presents evidence that it is instead Himself who is the one and only God. We have an idol polemic, a speech of disputation, and a salvation oracle all rolled into one chapter--AND Isaiah's first mention of the only named person (well, he will be named in later chapters, anyway) in all of the Hebrew Scriptures to specifically be called a maschiach--pagan King Cyrus. So now we have seven different characters mentioned--Yahweh, Isaiah, the first and second heavenly council members, Israel the servant, the nations, their gods, and the servant coming from the east. Next week we will have introduced to us one more character who will occur throughout Isaiah 40-55, the one whom the targums, Rabbis David Kimchi and Abarbanel call THE Messiah--but for this week we have quite enough excitement dealing with these new developments in the New Exodus promises of YHWH to His people exiled in the Babylonian Empire.
Big thanks to our first podcast supporter! Thanks to ddrjqy! Just this last week I spent a bunch of money on new context books, so I appreciate the support.
This week we're going to explore the ancient Near Eastern world of polytheism and henotheism (the religion of pre-monotheistic Israel) in order to understand why the prophet Isaiah is having so much trouble convincing the exiled Jews that they really can trust God and that the idols of the nations are nothing. What were idols? Were they actually gods? What does it mean for a god to be jealous? Why didn't they believe that God could save them? What are cosmic functions and how did the concept of regional authority work?
This is all incredibly important foundational information for discussing the disputations and idol polemics that we find throughout Isaiah 40-55 and without this knowledge, it is very easy to make some wrong assumptions based on the faulty modern views of paganism put forth by the new age/Wiccan movement.
I admit it, I dun lied to you...I said we were going to start the Gospel of Mark this week, but I figured out a while back that so much of Mark depends on Isaiah that I would be having to do too much back and forth so we're going to lay these foundations now instead of haphazardly as we go along. We're going to spend the next few months going through Isaiah 40-56 verse by verse, paying careful attention to the historical, literary and textual context, as well as the Hebrew wording to unravel this beautiful and sometimes very confusing document, which is often used out of context to try to get people to deny faith in the Messiah. This is all in preparation for an intensive study into the Gospel of Mark next year!
We're going to take a hiatus from Mark for a few months in order to lay down some groundwork from Isaiah starting next week, but first I want to cover the very misunderstood and abused virtue of zealousness. Who in Scripture has it and who simply suffers from a profound lack of self-control or a lack of understanding of what God wants from us? And how does it all relate to how we are called to live boldly for God while still loving others?
Okay, so this was recorded completely unscripted. I just had a list in front of me with categories and did the whole thing off the cuff so there won't be a transcript anywhere, sorry. Men and women in the ancient Near East and First Century lived differently and thought differently than we do in modern times--our way of life would seem upside down and completely chaotic to them in more ways than one, and not all of them obvious. This means that a lot of our preconceived notions about how they felt about things are often dead wrong and that twists the meaning of many Bible stories. FAIR WARNING: Knowing this stuff will make you feel like pulling out your hair when you hear a lot of sermons. More in-depth information on this subject is available in my book Context for Adults: Sexuality, Social Identity, and Kinship Relations in the Bible available through this link: www.amazon.com/dp/1973751003
When someone says something like, "John the Baptist's father was the Zechariah who was slaughtered between the altar and the porch in the Temple" it is important to ask where they got that information because folks who use sketchy (or nonexistent) sources aren't quick to pony up without prompting and when people hear something new and seemingly cool from someone who sounds convincing, they generally just get lost in the moment. So, about a month ago I pre-recorded a teaching where I read the Protoevangelium of James, a second-century pseudepigraphic (false name) fake Gospel that sometimes gets used as a legitimate source but absolutely is not. I'm going to read through it and point out all the glaring errors and reasons why we know it wasn't written by someone in the first century and certainly not by James, and why whoever wrote it had obviously never set foot in the Temple complex in his life.
link to a pdf of this fake Gospel account https://tinyurl.com/yy5pm9g7
Every year, we seem to see a falling away from the faith of people who once claimed Yeshua to be the Messiah of Israel--during the Fall Feasts and during the month before Passover. Prompted by a couple on my facebook friend list denying Yeshua/Jesus on Yom Kippur (of all days), I am sharing my experience with an antimissionary posing as a friend back in December of 2013 and how, even though I slapped him down hard at the time, it led to me almost denying my Savior. Most importantly, I want to share how God personally intervened to save me and how what He told me can protect you too.