Bammerhab: Bible Explainer

Paul says in Romans 8:28 that everything will work out for good for the believer. Agathon means good in Greek. It’s a root word, an ancient word with no certain etymology. It just means good. I guess we just all know what good is. But we also all know that all things right now are not good. Things have never been good. So what is Paul talking about here? Thank you to poet Samantha Coté , of THOUGH...

“We Three Kings” is my favorite Christmas carol. However, there weren’t three of them, and they weren’t kings! But yes, this caravan did come from the east and the Greek calls them magoi , or magicians or wizards. But these wizards were not actually wise men, and they aren’t the heroes in the Christmas story but rather a band of ambitious bunglers, who professing to be wise men make a series of fo...

A conversation with portraitist and comic artist Noah Snoke about how to pray from Philippians 4:6-7. Paul tells us to pray with supplication, but supplication is a phrase we don’t use all that often. Supplication sounds pretty elevated. However, in Greek the root word behind supplication means to beg. That’s remarkably un -elevated. We all know what begging is. But Paul doesn’t just tell us to be...

Vengeance is arguably the number one trait of our times. It lives on all sides of the aisle, among old, young and rich and poor. And it is antithetical to Christianity. But why? This episode digs deeper into “ ekdikesis ” (ἐκδίκησις meaning ‘vengeance’) in Romans 12:19. Romans 12:19 - “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I...

[Continuing last week’s conversation with Chase Replogle about how pride is connected to offense.] When Jesus said that the last shall be first and the first shall be last, the concept of ga’on is certainly implied. The “first” would be the proud, those characterized by ga’on. Ga’on is for those who are exalted, those who grow, those who are lifted up, those who rise up. But isn’t that a goal we a...

A conversation with Chase Replogle about how Jesus handled offense. There’s no way to not get offended. It will happen. We can’t control that part. All we can control is how we respond to that inevitable offense. Satan has ensured there will be a trap of offense out there with our name on it. Offense is one of the fews thing that Jesus guarantees. He doesn’t say if, but when you are offended. And...

You plant the seed. You let it grow. Then you take the fruit. That’s the normal way of things. It was just common sense. In fact, Jesus quotes an old Greek saying: “There’s still four months to the harvest!” The implication is just plant, then wait. Things don’t happen immediately. Rome wasn’t built in a day. But wait, Jesus says not so fast. The natural rules don’t always apply. Not in certain se...

So much of the ancient world was explicitly built to avoid shame. So much of the modern world is all about people pleasing to avoid shame or rejection. That makes sense as shame is one of the most damaging things a person can endure. Psychologically, shame warps the mind. We hide our shame constantly. Jesus was shamed in his death, shamed in his birth, but he scorned the shame. Why? And how do we...

Yom Kippur begins on October 1st in 2025, but what is it all about? Covering. God’s covering for us. At the beginning of history, Adam hid, which was silly if you think about it. Adam knew that God created the world, and God created his heart and his mind and none of that could be hidden behind a tree trunk. The first and worst betrayal in human history could not be covered by a fig leaf. Still Ad...

We all want to be new. We all want the world to be new. But we take many radically different paths toward that renewal. Yet, Paul says Jesus is the only path for real personal renewal. But when Paul speaks of renewal, he’s not saying to revert back to what your mind was like as a kid when it was young and new. He’s saying you’re gonna get a whole new different kind of thinking, a peace that’s new,...

Ancient Israelites used alarms for the same reason you set an alarm on your cell phone, to wake up, or to remember something or to be alerted to a danger. So the Feast of Trumpets was all about blowing shofars to wake the people up for the fall feasts, to remember, to reflect and to be ready. But beyond that, the Feast of Trumpets is also connected to ancient Jewish wedding customs and also all th...

Paul was an ambassador for Christ. Now we are ambassadors for Christ, and there are lots and lots of ways to be an ambassador. To dig deeper, I interview writer Philip Ulrich who over his life has been a kid’s author ( The Growly Books ), a missionary to Eastern Europe, the lead singer of a band called 5:20 , a filmmaker and a graphic designer, and in all of those roles he was an ambassador for Ch...

Jesus could have easily healed the holes in his hands. Why did he let them remain? After all, in his resurrection, all of him was healed, and not only healed but he became the prototype human for all of us to follow in his footsteps one day. So why leave a scar? Well, honestly I don’t know. But I wonder if part of the reason Jesus’ hands didn’t heal is the same reason he cried at the tomb of Lazar...

Surprise! We’ve got an extra bonus episode of Summer Bammerhab! ( Summerhab ?) This episode is a wide-ranging interview with pastor, podcaster and church historian Lance Ralston , however we’re still gonna start out focusing on a specific word, this time it is echaritōsen from Ephesians 1:6, and it means “He has made acceptable.” It comes from the root Greek word charis which is among the most dif...

In Jesus’ day Shavuot (Pentecost) was the best-attended of the great traveling feasts because traveling conditions were at their best. That meant that there was never a more international, diverse gathering in Jerusalem than on this day. Jews from nearly every known nation were there. And that’s when the Holy Spirit chose to birth the church, but you probably already knew that! But what you might...

When you understand Jesus’ Old Testament references, you see that he spoke of end times more than anyone else in the Bible. But Jesus not only spoke of end times, he spoke of rapture, and he not only spoke of rapture, he demonstrated it. Ascension Day is May 29th this year; it could just as easily be called Rapture Day. The two concepts are synonymous. Just as Jesus modeled baptism for his church,...

The 3rd commandment says not to swear, right? Nope. To take God’s name in vain is intentional false representation of God to try to manipulate to get your own way. Using the Lord’s name “in vain” is what is often called being a false prophet elsewhere in the Old and New Testaments. Sadly our generation is awash with many false prophets. Who are they? What should you do about it? Great questions! L...

Oligopsychous means fainthearted or, by extension, anxious and weary. So, what does Paul proscribe for anxious, weary souls like me? Paul counsels gentleness. He gently encourages these weary ones and feeds them reassurance. Where does that reassurance come from? Great question! (Also thanks to musician Sam Banfield for sharing a “Song for the Weary” at the close of the episode.) This episode digs...

God’s primal blessing is so shocking that, despite it being in plain language in the very first chapter of the Bible and echoed throughout, many modern theologians recoil at the thought and try to minimize it and reverse it and undo it. But it can’t be undone. So what is this primal blessing? Great question! Let’s explore! (Also thanks again to Desi Ana Sartini for reading her poem, “ Seventh Day...

The root of much of our failure is because of dipsychos. But what is it exactly? What does it look like and how can it end? This epidemic of dipsychos is personal for me. It was a sin that trapped me for over a decade, but what’s worse is it still traps most Christians I know, and they don’t even know its name. As I’ve seen famous pastors and ordinary Christians drift slowly away from Christ, I ke...

In the ancient Temple, the only light streamed down from a great menorah lit by seven branches. And holding that light, are the cups of the great lamp which are fashioned to look like almond flowers. Wait… why almond flowers? Does the Almighty really like almonds? And why did God inaugurate Jeremiah’s call with a vision of almond flowers? Great question! Let’s explore! This episode digs deeper int...

Why does Easter matter? Because Easter is not just a day, but the pivot point of the entire cosmos, where a brand New Earth has begun to be created. What will that look like, you ask? Great question! Let’s explore! This episode digs deeper into Gen Kainen - γῆν καινήν - “New Earth” in Reveleation 21:1. Revelation 21:1 -“ And I saw a new heaven and a NEW EARTH : for the first heaven and the first e...

Every spring for thousands of years, families have gathered around a story measured out in food, measured out by four cups of wine. These cups of wine are centered around four promises from Exodus 6, and each cup has a very different mystery inside it. So, what is the mystery of the cups? Let me explain… This episode digs deeper into Poterion- ποτήριον - “the cup” in Mark 14:23: Mark 14:23 -“ And...

Why did the crowds wave palm branches on Palm Sunday? Were they just grabbing something at hand or is there a much deeper meaning at play here, that stretches back thousands of years into the past and far into the future? Thanks too to Jesse Baker for his poem: “The Twirling Oak.” Today’s Word: Besimhah - בְשִׂמְחָ֣ה - “With Joy, In Glee” Isaiah 55:12 - “ You will go out IN JOY and be led forth in...

God tells us he’s the potter; we’re the clay. He’s the architect; we’re the living stones. But what exactly is God shaping you for? Or another way of putting that, what is your calling? Also… What if you can’t finish our calling before you die, what then? “ As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones , are being built...