Recently I visited Saint Teodoro in Pavia, Italy. On the wall is a magnificent painting. Actually, a whole story in paintings. When I was there, I spoke with a crew from the History channel filming a documentary of this wall. Why? Because it depicts the Italian victory over Charlemagne in the 8th Century. According to…
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Exodus 20:2 NASB Brought you out – Israel Finkelstein makes some challenging points in the book, The Quest for the Historical Israel. He notes that archeology is not in the business of exegesis. Exegesis is the process of…
When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, then he fought against Israel and took some of them captive. Numbers 21:1 NASB King of Arad – Something unexpected is happening. As I investigate the background for a book about Solomon, I…
When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes. 2 Kings 22:11 NASB The book of the law – We certainly aren’t confused about which book King Josiah heard. The text reads sepher hat-torah. Josiah heard the revelation of YHVH to Moses and it was so distressing that…
The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, 2 to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah . . . Jeremiah 1:1-2a NASB Came – How do you read the Bible? Obviously I am not asking about the…
“Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish.” Jonah 3:9 NASB Who knows – Does God change His mind? The king of Nineveh certainly hoped so. So should we. What hope can we have if the will of God is inflexibly fixed from eternity past?…
The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham: Matthew 1:1 NASB Record – The Jews invented history. Most people don’t realize this. They think history has always been part of the human way of thinking. But they are wrong. Eliade has conclusively shown that virtually all…
Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; they came each one with his household: Exodus 1:1 NASB Names – The Bible is not a timeless guidebook. It is a story of the history of men and God. It is a recollection of what happened, not a…
You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. Deuteronomy 4:2 NASB Add/take away – “Finally, there came a movement that made our lives bitter with all the methods it took over…
Look to the pact, for the dark places of earth fill with groans of outrage. Psalm 74:20 (R. Alter translation) Fill – Asaph’s psalm of despair reads like today’s newspaper for followers of YHWH. He cried out, “Why, O God, have You abandoned us forever?” He describes the insults to God’s own name perpetrated by…
