Discovering the Old Testament

Discovering the Old Testament, Part 35 Perhaps no prophetic figure of the Old Testament is more iconic than Jeremiah who preached at a time of precipitous decline of the Jewish nation and witnessed first hand its decline from a covenantal … Continue reading →

Discovering the Old Testament, Part 34 Celebrated in music, art, and literature, the Fourth Servant Song in Isaiah 52 and 53 is remains one of the most celebrated and controversial figures in Old Testament prophecy. Who or what was this … Continue reading →

Discovering the Old Testament, Part 33 Idolatry and the threat of its syncretism with Jewish religion posed a major threat to Jewish identity. While Isaiah fights idolatry fiercely and relentlessly, he must also find a way to understand a shocking … Continue reading →

Discovering the Old Testament, Part 32 Where First Isaiah’s message is one of destruction, humiliation, and punishment for a covenant people gone astray, the primary motif of Second Isaiah could not be more different. Where there was doom, now there … Continue reading →

Discovering the Old Testament, Part 31 In our continuing exploration of Isaiah and his ministry, we look at how he and other Israelite prophets received their call, their local competitors, and how Isaiah’s message of compassion and justice for the … Continue reading →

Discovering the Old Testament, Part 30 An interlude on the historical context of Isaiah’s writings, penned when ancient Judah literally faced destruction and annihilation from a relentless, ruthless, and seemingly unstoppable Assyrian military machine. Yet it was within the very … Continue reading →

Discovering the Old Testament, Part 29 The Prophet Isaiah was one of the most articulate proponents of social justice as the core social and religious duty of the Jewish nation. Through his brilliant poetry and incisive prose, he communicates his … Continue reading →

Discovering the Old Testament, Part 28 From the wild ecstatics to the grand poetic literature of the classical Hebrew prophets, prophecy in ancient Judah and Israel changed and adapted to meet the changing needs and challenges that faced the Chosen … Continue reading →

Discovering the Old Testament, Part 27 Moses promised the Israelites that God would raise up a prophet like him when Israel needed one. The portrait of Elijah and Elisha is of two such prophets with unmistakable associations with Moses, sent … Continue reading →

Discovering the Old Testament, Part 26 The seeds of dissent planted by Solomon came to fruition under his son Rehoboam when ten of the Israelite tribes in the north broke away and formed their own kingdom, Israel. For the next … Continue reading →

Discovering the Old Testament, Part 25 The son of King David and Bathsheba, Solomon was renowned for this wisdom, his wealth, and his women. Under his reign as described in the Bible, the Israelite kingdom arguably reached its zenith. But … Continue reading →

Discovering the Old Testament, Part 24 A look at the ways of kings in the lands of Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, and Syro-Palestine and how their colors and flavors of kingship reflected on Israel’s new monarchy. We examine the influence of … Continue reading →

Discovering the Old Testament, Part 23 As one of the most famous characters in the Old Testament, King David continues to inspire and challenge readers to this day, raising the question: just how much mayhem can one commit and still … Continue reading →

Discovering the Old Testament, Part 22 The Bible presents a consistently negative picture of Canaanite religion as a miasma of excess and debauchery masquerading as religion. But the discovery in 1929 of Canaanite texts written in Ugaritic have added some … Continue reading →

Discovering the Old Testament, Part 21 Israel’s transition from a loose confederation led by charismatic leaders and judges was not easy, but seemed necessary. Samuel, the prophet who helped guide the Israel through this difficult adjustment, expressed no illusions about … Continue reading →