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Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called the Synoptic Gospels because they share a perspective. The Gospel of John is different. It is too-often dismissed as a spiritualized supplement to other works like Matthew, but its description of Jesus’ three year ministry before the Crucifixion along with the accompanying details about holidays, etc., make John’s timeline more plausible. A supplement wouldn’t need to repeat miracles like the Feeding of the Five Thousand; John’s gospel is an

Luke was a physician who was born a Gentile. He was an associate of Paul. This gospel and Acts are one history book sometimes referred to as “Luke/Acts”. He could have named it for one of the major themes: “What the Holy Spirit Did”. There is a special focus on outsiders like tax collectors, soldiers, and notorious sinners (Luke 3:12-14, Luke 5:27-30, Luke 7:2-10, Luke 15:1, Luke 18:9-14, etc.). The gospels were originally regional: this one was popular in Greece, so Jesus is

Mark (also known as John Mark and Mark the Evangelist) is more involved in the overall story of the Bible than many people think. The Church, including those who walked with Jesus on Earth, hung out at Mark’s house (Acts 12:12). Mark traveled with Barnabas and Paul (Acts 12:25, Acts 13:5, Acts 13:13). Mark is Barnabas’ cousin (Colossians 4:10). Mark and Paul were reconciled by 2 Timothy 4:11. Mark became Peter’s helper (1 Peter 5:13). A first century church “father” named Pap

Matthew was written down by a Jewish Christian still in love with the Law of Moses (Acts 21:20). The gospels were regional: Matthew was popular in Jerusalem. Jesus is shown to be God’s Anointed King with many Old Testament quotes. Peter is seen at his most special in this one. As a later production by the Church, this includes details that seem to say, “Hey Rome! We’re okay with tax collectors and centurions!” Tax collectors were considered traitors; Matthew was a tax collect

You’re probably looking at a mostly blank sheet of paper that says “NEW TESTAMENT”. You may have heard of a “last will and testament”. A...

Malachi, around 460 BC, addressed backsliders after the Exile. This book reflects situations in Ezra 9, Ezra 10, Nehemiah 5, and Nehemiah...

The prophet Zechariah is mentioned in Ezra 5:1 and Ezra 6:14. He basically said, “Rebuild the Temple, already!” in the context of Ezra 4:1-5,21. Artaxerxes had said to stop. Zechariah was a priest (Nehemiah 12:16) similar to Ezekiel. The Messiah or The Branch appears again in this book (For more on this common prophetic theme, see Isaiah 4:2, Isaiah 11:1, Jeremiah 23:5, Jeremiah 33:15, Zechariah 3:8, and Zechariah 6:12). Since the Hebrew for “branch” amounts to the consonants

The prophet Haggai is mentioned in Ezra 5:1 and Ezra 6:14. He basically said, “Rebuild the Temple, already!” in the context of Ezra...

Zephaniah preached from about 640 to 612 BC; this book is a message from around 622 BC. Zephaniah and Jeremiah spoke to King Josiah about...

Instead of speaking to the people for God, Habakkuk talked to God for the people. This conversation happened sometime before 612 BC....

Nahum prophesied this message about 125 years after Jonah got Nineveh to repent. This went unheeded, and Nineveh fell to Babylon and its...

Micah worked in the same place (the southern kingdom of Judah) and time as Isaiah. This book shares themes with the Book of Isaiah. Micah...

The name Jonah means “dove”; see Genesis 8:12 for such a bird signifying the end of judgment. This prophet, a historical person, was...

Obadiah means “Servant of the Lord” or “Slave of YHWH”. He preached against Edom between 585 and 550 BC, give or take. See Ezekiel 36:5...

Amos worked around 760 BC. It’s easy to characterize this (probably oldest) prophetic book as a Hymn of Hate screaming at people to get...

Joel means “YHWH is God”. He spoke of locusts: literal (Deuteronomy 28:42), figurative (Deuteronomy 28:49-51), or both. See Exodus...

1:1 Hosea preached against idolatry from about 750 BC to about 710 BC. At this time, Hosea was working in the northern kingdom of Israel...

Because of the prescience of the predictions in it, some people try to assign a late date and different authorship to this book. However,...

According to tradition, just like at Jesus’ baptism, Heaven opened to a 30 year old man by a river. Isaiah and Jeremiah have already met the “two witnesses'' requirement regarding what Babylon did to Jerusalem, but wait: there’s more. Ezekiel grew up under Josiah’s reign and was alive at the same time as Jeremiah and Daniel. He was born into a priestly family, but he wound up in captivity with no Temple. This book uses Babylonian imagery similar to things from “Erra and Ishum

We haven’t left Jeremiah yet. People listened to the Snake, it’s time to leave the Garden, and the weeping prophet has a demo tape for...