Character in Context

Alonso Schökel once said that “what has been written with imagination must be read with imagination,” and although we completely understand the difference between reading one of Shakespeare’s sonnets and Shirer’s Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, we tend not to do that with Biblical poetry, which makes up roughly a third of the Hebrew Scriptures. We have the same problem when we don’t understand t...

We’re going to look at Daniel, Revelation, and Enoch within the context of post-exilic Israel to find out what an apocalypse is, what it isn’t, and how the original audience would have read it. We’ll also cover what the Prophets are and are not, as well as historical narratives and how getting these confused with Apocalyptic writings make the popular books on Revelation not even worth the paper th...

Translation isn’t an exact science and there is no “one true interpretation”—not in any language. Translators have to look at words in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek and then make hard choices about which word in their own language would be the best substitute. And not every word can be translated easily—some can’t be translated at all because the original meaning of the word was lost. Also, sometimes...

If you have ever sent me a question asking me about such and such, I will almost always ask you for the book, chapter and verse. Not because I don’t know my Bible, but because I respect it enough not to lean on the Holy Spirit to teach me something out of context. Who a section of Scripture is addressed to is just important as who the speaker is, what situation is being addressed, the genre type,...

One of the most misunderstood and definitely the most misused Bible study aid is Strong’s Concordance. Today we’re going to find out what the problem is, what a Concordance is and isn’t and what it should and shouldn’t be used for. Warning: this lesson will likely make you wince at a lot of YouTube sermons. Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/03/episode-165-study-11-binding-the-strongs-m...

The book of Esther is a thrilling story to read about and yet we rarely look into what this would have been like to live through for the two very brave and virtuous (yes, both of them) Queens who had to walk a knife edge within the world of honor/shame dynamics where a shamed woman could easily wind up a dead woman. (And yes, Mordecai was her cousin--not sure where my brain was on that and why I d...

You might be wondering why we need to talk about religion when we are already studying the Bible—but religion in the ancient world was nothing like what we experience today. There was no separation between “church and state” or church and anything. Religion was everything and everything was religious. We’re going to tie ancient religion into their pre-scientific beliefs, and we are also going to t...

Anyone who knows me knows that ancient sociology is my absolute favorite aspect of Biblical context. Today we’ll talk about the ancient community identity, and the differences between Holy and Profane/Common as well as Clean vs Unclean. They are all entirely different but once you understand them, the Bible makes a whole lot more sense! Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/02/episode-162-...

Sometimes we forget that the Gospels contain three, and not just two, advent accounts because the arrival of “Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord” was anticipated almost as much as the coming of the Messiah Himself! And it’s an exciting story full of angelic visitations, a barren older mamma, a prophetic unborn child, and a dad who is quite literally speechless! Transcript: https:...

As this is the time of year when a third of the world is focused on the birth of Immanuel, and many believe that Hannukah was the time of His divine conception, I wanted to spend a few weeks learning about the account that Matthew and Luke dedicated two chapters each teaching us. This week we will learn Joseph’s story in the Gospel of Matthew. What better time of year to become educated about the...

I have always enjoyed teaching the ancient art of polemic but I have never actually taught Biblical irony before and I can tell you that it is absolutely a game changer for understanding how the Bible works, how the Kingdom of Heaven works, and how God works.  I really enjoyed putting this one together, and I have some great book recommendations for you. Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/20...

Can the Bible be understood literally? At face value? Was it meant to be understood that way and what does that even mean? This week, we will talk about communication and how figures of speech (anthropomorphisms, metaphors, and similes) have to be accepted on their own terms so that we don’t misunderstand the intention of the passages. Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2022/11/episode-158-t...

When we look at the Bible as just one book with one kind of literature and don’t learn how to do “resets” based on what exactly we are reading, we can really misunderstand and misinterpret the text. What is Genre and why is it so important for understanding what different parts of Scripture are and aren’t useful for? How can we get into trouble when we try to make all of the Bible fit into one kin...

How and why did the transmission of Scripture change in the first century and beyond? How did they get from the spoken words of John the Baptist and Yeshua/Jesus to the epistles of Paul and written Gospel accounts—and more importantly, why did they do it? What does it mean for us today in terms of God’s ongoing relational quest to communicate with His people? Transcript: https://theancientbridge.c...

This week we will continue with the discussion of how Scripture was originally presented and experienced--orally as a relational conversation between God and mankind and as wisdom literature. We will look at how things began to change due to Persian and Greek influences and will segue into the ongoing controversy over the Apocryphal books and how an avoidance of and a loss of knowledge of Hebrew l...

I apologize for uploading the episode from last week again this week! Thanks to my friend Elizabeth for catching that! It's fixed now! What do the Parable of the Wicked Tenants, the eighth day, the pilgrimage festivals, and the Fruit of the Spirit all have in common? Everything. Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2022/10/episode-154-sukkot-and-the-mystery-of-the-eighth-day/

No, I am not suddenly endorsing the Rapture hypothesis but I am going to talk about how it is incompatible with any idea of white American (like me) and European Christians qualifying for it based on both Isaiah 58 and Matthew 25 and the historical reality of the persecuted church worldwide never being snatched from far worse than we can even imagine. This is a clarion call to all of us to bear fr...

I can’t stress enough how important it is to understand the ancient Hebrew view of authority and what makes a text inerrant and what does not. We’re going to start exploring what it means to the Body corporately and to us as individuals when we are aware that the Bible was never written to be read but to be heard. It means, among other things, that we have to look at the Bible as a community text...

Last week I talked about the red flags to avoid while building a library and I even named names on some of the worst of the resources. This week, I am going to share not only how to build a terrific library but also the difference between primary, secondary and tertiary resources. I will also be posting my resource list for this series in a separate blog that I will link as soon as I get done putt...

One of the most important first steps in really getting serious about Bible context studies is to get yourself a good quality library (and learning how not to misuse it) without investing in stinkers or spending more money than you have to. This week, we’re going to look at the most common red flags that will keep you from buying books that should have never been printed, and avoiding common YouTu...

At long last, the last episode about the Gospel of Mark and this one has a lot more context and controversy that most. We’re going to go through the entirety of chapter 16, including all four of the proposed endings—but are any of them the original? We will also talk about the legality of using women as witnesses during those times within Judaism. Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2022/09/e...

I promised a report on the amazing things that happened in Texas at the conference and so here is a small taste of the miracles, friendship and healing I experienced over a weekend that I freely admit to dreading but so glad I went. https://www.younityfitness.com/conferences She's already planning a bigger and better sequel because this one completely sold out and the attendees are already clamori...

First off, I had an AMAZING weekend with the most wonderful group of ladies at the Surge Conference over the weekend in Texas. I had a miraculous healing that will allow me to travel and I will share that next week! But Monday was bizarre--as it always the case when we have spiritual triumphs, right? And so I was subjected to some false accusations about what I do and do not support, teach, and sa...

This was a homeschool conference talk I gave over the weekend and fair warning--it is not for the faint of heart. I directly tackle the reason so many kids are walking away from the Bible and their faith and deconstructing after being homeschooled. But it also applies to churched kids in general. What happens when we teach our kids to think critically about everything EXCEPT the Bible and about fa...

Which Preparation day was this? The day before the Passover or the day before the Sabbath or something else entirely? We’ll explore this controversy by pulling together some information that might surprise you! What was the significance of Joseph of Arimathea claiming the body of Yeshua/Jesus? Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2022/07/episode-145-mark-73-good-friday/