Getting Isaiah, Part 4: Knowing when a Prophetic Sermon Starts and Stops
Okay, so we’ve established that reading the books of the writing prophets is hard. They wrote in poetry; they make casual reference to cultural practices of which the modern reader…
Getting Isaiah, Part 3: What the Figure is He Talking About?
Okay, so the Prophetic books in Scripture are both awesome and awfully difficult to understand. They have a pesky habit of preaching under divine inspiration about events that they never…
A Word Concerning the Political Christian
In MacArthur’s commentary on Titus, we find a complex tirade of sorts against the political Christian who involves himself or herself in an attempt to effect culture in America by…
Getting Isaiah, Part 2: Twelve Events Standing Behind Every Prophecy in Isaiah
In my last post, I introduced the background to the book of Isaiah in vague pictures designed to capture the essence of the political, social & religious dynamic at work…
Getting Isaiah Part 1: The Problem with Getting Isaiah
Let’s be honest. Reading “The Prophets” is hard. Well, reading them isn’t hard, at least not in translation, but understanding them is. I’m talking about books like, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Old Testament Studies
Historical Hermeneutics and Saul’s Grabbing of Samuel’s Hem in 1 Samuel 15:23-31
The garment hem plays an unexpected role in many Scriptures. It is unexpected because we have nothing like it in our western world. Below is a link a recent lecture…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Studies
Biblical Theology
HAGALAH
New Testament Studies
NT's Use of the OT
Old Testament Studies
Nazarenes, Rednecks, and Other Well-meaning Slurs
I love puzzles, always have. Growing up, I saw puzzles of all kinds as a natural exercise of my desire to be a detective someday, tracing out subtle clues to…
A Better Question is, “Who wouldn’t”: The Prodigal Son in Reflection, Part 3
One of my favorite gags in the old 1980’s TV show, Taxi, has a nervous Tony Danza shaving several times throughout the day to keep himself fresh looking for an…
Do You Really Have a Big Heart?
There is an old saying that goes, “If you’re not a liberal at 20 you have no heart, if you’re not a conservative at 40 you have no brain.” Indeed,…
The Failed Gentile Mission and Jesus: The Prodigal Son in Reflection, Part 2
How many Israelite characters can you name who ministered to Gentiles? Moses came out of Egypt with a mixed multitude who were absorbed into Israel. David had Gentiles as part…
I’ll Take Allegories & Analogies for 200: The Prodigal Son in Reflection, Part 1
I’m sure most of you have heard at least five prodigal son sermons in your lifetime… I’ve been around a while and can lay claim to at least 20 myself……
Weirdo Fixations and the Heart of True Religion
During my recent convalescence after surgery I received a disturbing letter from an earnest young man who was understandably distraught over his shunning from a congregation for whom he felt…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Biblical Studies
HAGALAH
New Testament Studies
NT's Use of the OT
Old Testament Studies
Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me as Quote NOT Statement: Psalm 22:1 in the New Testament
Matthew 27:46 reads, “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken…
Forensics, Not Just for CSI Anymore: Atonement & The Cross
You can question in faith. You can doubt in faith. You can also question and doubt in unbelief, in a heart deep challenge to the truths of God and His…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Biblical Studies
Biblical Theology
New Testament Studies
NT's Use of the OT
Systematic & Historical Theology
A Quote is Not a Direct Statement: Psalm 22 & The Forensics of the Cross
One of the most popular quotes by Christians about Jesus on the Cross is a quote by Jesus on the Cross. In Matthew 27:46 it says, “About the ninth hour…
Biblical Language Issues
Biblical Studies
HAGALAH
Meeting the Jesus of Mark
NT's Use of the OT
Text Criticism Issues
Fun with Hebrew Poetry: Isaiah 40:3 in the New Testament
I’ve been teaching an Isaiah class of late and we had an amusing time last night considering the way the New Testament Scholars have handled the quote from Isaiah 40:3…
God’s Will by God’s Means: Did Jacob NEED to Trick Isaac to Fulfill God’s Plan?
I had the pleasure of attending the President’s Chapel recently at Northpoint Bible College. I co-authored the book 40 Days With the Savior with Jonathan Cashman and have been traveling…
The Obliterating Folly of Single Text Christians
There’s been a lot of chatter on social media of late about torture. Now, torture is a powerful weasel word… i.e. a term that comes pre-loaded with good or bad…
Escaping the Tyranny of Certainty: Text Criticism in Isaiah 40:3
A few posts back, I began a discussion on the contrast between the scholarly handling of Isaiah 40:3 in the Hebrew and its appearance in both the Greek versions and…
How to Think Like a Text Critic
I launched a few posts back into a discussion of the scholarly handling of Isaiah 40:3 in both the Hebrew texts and the Greek texts. In the Hebrew, a voice…