BibleProject

The Wilderness Q+R (E13) — Is Adam being formed outside of Eden a prototype of the wilderness pattern? Are the biblical authors linking David and Nabal to Jacob and Laban? And does Jesus experience a wilderness testing moment in the garden of Gethsemane? In this episode, Tim and Jon respond to your questions from our series on the wilderness. Thank you to our audience for your thoughtful contribut...

The Wilderness Hyperlink Episode (E12) — In every theme study, we try to isolate a biblical topic and trace its appearances in the biblical story. But it's important to remember that biblical themes all harmonize and play off of one another, like instruments in an orchestra. That’s why as we went back through our library of episodes, the wilderness setting came up often. How did Moses fail his tes...

The Wilderness E11 — After his death and resurrection, Jesus sends his disciples out into the world to share the good news of the Kingdom and make disciples. These disciples, also known as apostles, plant churches across the Roman Empire and write letters to congregations made up of Jewish and Gentile believers. And their letters often wrestle with the tension of living in the new age of Jesus’ re...

The Wilderness E10 — Throughout ancient Israel’s long history of wandering in the wilderness, failing in the garden land, being exiled to the nations, and then continuing to struggle after their return to the land, one thing has been clear. The people need a faithful shepherd like Moses who can guide them into God’s provision and wisdom. So after Jesus is baptized in the wilderness and succeeds in...

The Wilderness E9 — After Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit leads him into the wilderness to be tested for 40 days. The exodus generation spent 40 years in the wilderness, so we’d be right to expect parallels with their experience. But why does Jesus need to go through this wilderness test? And what does it mean for his followers? In this episode, Jon and Tim look at Jesus’ three wilderness tests, d...

The Wilderness E8 –– In the Bible, God often turns wilderness wanderings into times of testing, purification, and preparation for returning to the garden land. The tragedy of the Hebrew Bible, however, is that when people do return to the garden, they keep following their own distorted wisdom and desires. This is why the beginning of every gospel account features a wild prophet named John, who is...

The Wilderness E7 — By the time we get to the Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, the meaning of the wilderness is well established. It’s a desolate, dangerous place where humans can’t survive. And it’s a place where God meets with his people to reform their character and deepen their trust in him. But Israel’s prophets remix the meaning and imagery of the wilderness in surprising ways that prepare us f...

The Wilderness E6 — In the Genesis and Exodus wilderness stories, God is present with his people, testing them and teaching them to listen to his voice. Most of the people fail to trust God there, but finally, in 1 Samuel, we meet a character who can succeed in the desolate place, David. In this episode, Jon and Tim explore David’s wilderness stories in 1 Samuel 24-26, finding a human who will tru...

The Wilderness E5 — After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, Moses and the second generation of Israelites stand at the border of the promised land. What does Moses say about the purpose of their time in the wilderness, and what do they need to remember about it when they’re in the garden land? In this episode, Jon and Tim look at Deuteronomy 8 and the hard lessons of the wilderness that can...

The Wilderness E4 — After God delivers the Israelites out of Egypt, he tells Moses to lead them to the promised land—through the wilderness. This is perplexing because a much shorter, safer route existed along the coast. So why does God lead his people along the longer, harder way? In this episode, Jon and Tim explore Israel’s wilderness tests, reflecting on God’s plan to create a new people throu...

The Wilderness E3 — In the Bible, the wilderness is a hostile, dangerous place where humans can’t survive. Because of this, the wilderness also reminds us that we all live on the precipice of life and death, and our survival depends on the one who is greater than us. The Bible’s earliest wilderness stories depict humans finding themselves in this setting due to their own foolish choices or the foo...

The Wilderness E2 — In the Bible, the wilderness is an uninhabitable, hostile place for human life. And in the creation narratives of Genesis 1 and 2, the wilderness symbolically represents the chaos of a pre-creation state. In this episode, Jon and Tim explore the wilderness language in the creation narrative and how it contrasts with Eden, God’s oasis of beauty, order, and abundance. CHAPTERS Re...

The Wilderness E1 — This year, we are looking at themes that play a prominent role in the Exodus story. And today, we’re starting a new series on the theme of the wilderness. The wilderness is a setting that shows up constantly in the Bible, and it mainly represents a hostile, barren place where humans can’t survive. So why does God repeatedly lead his people through it? In this episode, Jon and T...

Redemption Q+R (E12) — Is deliverance from evil spirits a redemption from the evil one over to God’s possession? Was God demanding a redemption payment through Jesus’ death? And are salvation and redemption basically the same thing? In this episode, Tim and Jon respond to your questions from our Redemption series. Thank you to our audience for your thoughtful contributions to this episode! View al...

Redemption Hyperlink Episode (E11) — There are so many themes in the Bible, from redemption to exile, to mountains and cities. In every series, we attempt to isolate and study one biblical theme. But it’s important to remember that biblical themes are woven together throughout the Bible like instruments in a symphony. Today in this hyperlink episode, we’ll listen to clips from previous podcast ser...

Redemption E10 — We’ve made it to the end of our series on redemption, where we’ll look at two last examples of redemption in the New Testament. When Jesus redeemed us from sin and death, did he pay a redemption price, and how does his redemption relate to the Torah’s sacrificial system? In this episode, Jon and Tim explore 1 Peter 1 and Hebrews 9, which connect Jesus’ redemption to sacrifices at...

Redemption E9 — So far in the series, we’ve been talking about how redemption means being reclaimed—freed from slavery and returned to where we belong. But what are we enslaved to, and how does Jesus set us free? In this episode, Jon and Tim explore Romans 8 and Hebrews 2 to trace how Jesus enters our suffering and overcomes death to bring us back to life. CHAPTERS Recap and Setup for Romans 8 (0:...

Redemption E8 — Both in his public ministry and sacrificial death, Jesus redeems people from humanity’s cosmic “pharaohs,” the Satan , sin, and death. Jesus’ miracles show more clearly how this redemption works, but he says very little about how his death serves as a redemption. In fact, the most substantial thing we get is his symbolic body and blood language during the Last Supper Passover meal....

Redemption E7 — When murmurs about the birth of the Messiah began spreading, 1st-century Jewish people already had very specific expectations of what his redemption would look like. He was to be a new Moses who would overthrow Rome, enabling them to live freely in the land. But even after Jesus’ resurrection, none of that had happened. So what kind of redemption did Jesus actually accomplish? In t...

Redemption E6 — In the book of Psalms, the Hebrew words for “redemption” are often used to simply mean save, rescue, or release. This is especially true in the psalms of King David, who was never a slave but regularly used redemption language to speak of trials with his enemies. As the collection of psalms grew and shifted over many centuries, David’s personal longings for redemption came to repre...

Redemption E5 — For many centuries, ancient Israel lived in the land of promise but consistently broke their covenant with Yahweh. The prophet Isaiah warned the people that their corruption and idolatry would lead them back into slavery—not to Egypt but to the empires of Assyria and Babylon. After these two exiles happen, the prophecies in the book of Isaiah shift surprisingly from correction and...

How the Bible Was Formed Q+R (E5) — What is the relationship between the written word of the Bible and Jesus as the Word at the beginning of creation? How do we reconcile the Bible’s editing process with Scriptures that forbid adding or taking away from God’s word? And what should we do with other writings that closely followed the New Testament? In this episode, Tim and Jon respond to your questi...

Redemption E4 — During a dark time in ancient Israel, idolatry, injustice, and death ruled the land and its people. In the midst of a famine, a destitute widow tragically loses her husband and adult sons and is left alone with her immigrant daughter-in-law. It’s a horrible situation, but God uses the faithful, loving, and generous acts of ordinary community members to redeem the widow’s story. In...

Redemption E3 — So far in this series, we’ve explored the theme of redemption in the Eden story and in several stories in Exodus. In this episode, Jon and Tim look at how redemption language shows up in Torah laws about cities of refuge and unsolved murders, highlighting God’s provision for justice, the role of the blood redeemer, and communal responsibility in ancient Israel. CHAPTERS Recap of Wh...

Redemption E2 — Redemption involves a transfer of possession, and in the grand story of the Bible, humanity is under the possession of sin and death. But God’s plan is to snatch us back from death and bring us to life—to redeem us. But how does this redemption actually work? In this episode, Jon and Tim look at the Torah rituals of Jubilee and Passover, discovering the life-saving redemption that...