Author: Skip Moen, Ph.D.

  • Messiah and King

    saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” Matthew 2:2  ESV King– Christian teaching has conditioned us to believe that the Jews expected a personal redeemer/Messiah from the time of Moses.  This is partly due to the interpretation of Messianic prophecies in the Tanakh…

  • Maybe, Maybe Not

    And now, Lord, for what do I wait?  My hope is in You.  Psalm 39:7  NASB For what – Remember that Hebrew has no punctuation.  No commas. No question marks.  And “Lord” isn’t found in the middle of the sentence. So, is this, “For what do I wait?” or is it, “And now that I wait, Lord, my hope…

  • The Sound of Recovery

    How blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! O Lord, they walk in the light of Your countenance.  Psalm 89:15  NASB Joyful sound– But of course, it isn’t just any joyful sound.  This is the sound of tĕrûʿâ, the call of the Shofar to the assembly, the critical reminder of a community under Torah. Why does…

  • The Disassembling of Abraham

    And when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, “This is the kindness you must do me: at every place to which we come, say of me, ‘He is my brother.”’  Genesis 20:13  ESV Every place– God describes Abraham’s travels as a journey toward a destination.  “Go forth  . . …

  • Once Again (Again)

    Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth.”  Genesis 6:13 NASB Violence– What does a rainbow guarantee?  Does it guarantee that God will never again destroy all flesh?  No, it…

  • Egyptian Mythology

    The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.  Genesis 1:2 ESV Waters– How incredibly difficult it is for us to read these ancient texts from the perspective of the original audience.  We constantly import theories…