All Posts

Jeremiah was a prophet for 40 years (627 to 587 BC). He lived during the times that were predicted by Isaiah. Zephaniah and Jeremiah preached to the reformer Josiah. Zephaniah was a descendant of Hezekiah, who had enacted similar reforms to what Josiah would do. Jeremiah preached from the days of Josiah to Zedekiah, like a reverse Moses leading the people into exile. After Josiah’s reforms, Babylon beat Assyria, Judah was Egypt’s vassal, Babylon beat Egypt, Judah was Babylon’

Isaiah’s ministry was from about 740 to 680 BC. There are so many prophecies about Jesus in this book, some people call it the Fifth Gospel. Isaiah was a contemporary of Micah. Micah is somewhat like a Cliff’s Notes version of Isaiah. The Book of Isaiah is divided into a focus on judgment (Chapters 1 through 39) and comfort (Chapters 40 through 66). Some people divide Chapters 40-55 and Chapters 56-66; some of them even refer to “first, second, and third Isaiah” to imply diff

We’ve studied Law, History, Poetry, Music, and Philosophy so far, and there’s a little more poetry before we get to the prophets. Poetry...

This is a book about how life is ephemeral as we have seen in Psalm 39:5-7, Psalm 78:39, etc. It is traditionally attributed to Solomon....

Proverbs are wise generalizations to apply in specific situations. They can be contradictory, as with other common platitudes like “Look before you leap” and “He who hesitates is lost”. Part of being wise is knowing which wise generalization it is time to employ. What we’re after is how to use knowledge rightly for daily living. These Proverbs are grouped into sections: Proverbs 1 through Proverbs 9; Proverbs 10 through Proverbs 22:16; Proverbs 22:17-Proverbs 24:22 (which has

The Book of Psalms is the Hebrew hymnbook. I offer some notes about context, New Testament references, etc., but I’m intentionally trying to say less to let the songs breathe. The numbering of the Psalms may differ according to which translation of the Bible you are reading. Like Job, here are more examples of people expressing their feelings to God. Getting a taste of the style and use of metaphorical language of Hebrew poetry will help us understand the prophets better when

Job is mentioned as a historical person in Ezekiel 14:14,20. This is a book of wisdom that teaches that God alone is wise (Job 28:12-28)....

This account took place between Ezra 6 and Ezra 7. The name Esther is derived from “Ishtar”, the sex goddess. Esther, Mordecai, and Haman...

Nehemiah, rebuilder of the walls of Jerusalem, had been next to power like Joseph, Daniel, Mordecai, etc. A small fraction of those...

Ezra is a variant of “Azariah” meaning “God helps”. He was sent by the Persian Empire (aka the Achaemenid Empire) to lead a group of...

2 Chronicles is a Judah-focused history perhaps written down by Ezra and his followers. We noted things like an early antecedent of the...

Congratulations for making it this far. Wow, that history was largely depressing, right? The good news is that life under the New...

2 Kings continues the Deuteronomistic History. 1:1 Moab leaving as a result of Ahab’s evil sets up the war in chapter 3. 1:2 “Baal-Zebul” means “lord of glory”; “Baal-Zebub” means “lord of the flies” signifying a pile of dung. The historian editorializes (like changing names in the 2 Samuel 4:4 note). 1:3-4 What did we already say about talking to Baal instead of to God (1 Kings 22:6)? 1:8 “He was a hairy man” Elijah was possibly a Nazirite, especially given the similarities

This is another installment of the Deuteronomistic Histories, in which national success or failure is explained by...

This is a continuation of the history we’ve been reading. This was once all one work. Samuel died in 1 Samuel 25, so it’s just named in his honor. 1:1-8 David just got back from killing Amalekites. This man chose poorly. 1:10 The Bible says that he said he did it, not that he did it. The manner of Saul’s death does not make the Bible self-contradictory. 1:13 The murder laws, etc., applied to foreigners in the land, too. 1:15 see Genesis 9:6. 1:16 see 1 Samuel 26:9. 1:17-18 Lo

1 and 2 Samuel were once all one work compiled after the Israel/Judah split (as evidenced by 1 Samuel 27:6) perhaps from many books that we don’t have (as evidenced by 1 Chronicles 29:29). Samuel was the last of the Judges (1 Samuel 7:6). Spoiler alert: Samuel dies in 1 Samuel 25, so this is a history scroll named in his honor. 1:2 The name Hannah means “Grace”. 1:11 If polygyny were sinful, why would God have blessed the Old Testament saints with answered prayers like this (

Ruth is set during the days of the Judges. It shows David’s family being better behaved than the rest of Israel. Jesus is our Boaz, our...

Jesus is coming to judge the world, and we will rule with Him. In a theocracy, God is King. He gave the Law, so the rulers of his people were Judges. The theme of the history books in the Bible is that people are bad at living according to the Law; they need rescue. The events of this book cover 1380ish to 1060ish BC. It shows how Israel basically became Canaan. It is arranged in order of depravity, not chronologically. Parts of it were happening at the same time in different

Joshua means “the LORD is salvation”; in Greek, the name is Jesus. Jesus leads us into the Promised Land. Moses didn’t; Law is not the way to Heaven. Joshua was an Ephraimite (Numbers 13:8), adding to the narrative expectation (later subverted) that Joseph's offspring would end up running the show. Egypt represented humanity’s bondage to sin; the children of the people Moses led out of Egypt entered Canaan because in salvation, the old life dies and the new life goes to Heave

Deuteronomy means “Second Law”. Moses reminded Israel of the Law in his farewell address.  The letters can be used to spell, “To Me, you nerd!” a reminder of Deuteronomy 6:5, I suppose.  1:1 Ergo, Jesus quoted Deuteronomy repeatedly while He was in the wilderness (Matthew 4).  1:2-3 They took 40 years to take an 11-day trip.  1:6 We have stayed long enough at the mountain of Law. We are not being tutored by it anymore (Galatians 3:24, 1 Timothy 1:7); we are to press on into g