The Bible in Context
While reading the book of Isaiah I had a revelation. Isaiah repeatedly talks about Jerusalem, also called Zion, but in many places, he cannot be talking about the earthly city in Israel. The descriptions simply don’t fit any manmade place. Hence it seems best to understand these references as descriptions of the heavenly city called … Read more
The book of Isaiah is miraculous. Although Isaiah lived seven centuries before Christ, through the Spirit he records details of the life, suffering, death, and even resurrection of Christ. Even critical scholars acknowledge that Isaiah lived long before Christ. The Isaiah Scroll found among the Dead Sea Scrolls dates to at least 100 BC. Many … Read more
God is a Man of War by Stephen De Young is an excellent study on violence in the Old Testament. After reading this book, I decided to revise my post on herem warfare, which was one of the most difficult posts I have written. De Young is a proponent of the hybrid-giant view of the Nephilim. … Read more
Home clothes are comfortable: sweatpants, t-shirts, slippers, gowns. But in the Bible people sometimes put on an uncomfortable garment called sackcloth. Some think sackcloth is a burlap-like material—the fabric used for potato sacks—but consider Revelation 6:12: “The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair.” So sackcloth could be made from black goat’s hair while … Read more
God’s name is a highly contentious topic among some religious adherents. It’s understandable, I guess, since some have built their faith on one specific view, such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Similarly, Hebrew scholars like Nehemia Gordon claim they have discovered the divine name in ancient manuscripts and travel the world promoting their discovery. I realized … Read more