Better Than Fiction Bible Podcast

(Genesis 26:26-33) Clean, flowing water is an unquestionable requirement of living in the ancient world. If you didn’t have it, you had to go to someone who did. So is it any wonder that the family blessed by God, hits water every time they dig a well?

(Genesis 26: 23-25) How do we know Isaac is a real patriarch? Why do we had the repeated phrase "The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob"? Let's take a look at the man's ancient world street cred.

"Dig Another Well" by Paul Overstreet - https://youtu.be/UpWEtIiL-tw (Genesis 26:12-22) And when Ike went out for his morning drink He got a dipper full of dirt and his heart did sink But he knew it was the devil so he said with a grin God blessed me once and he can do it again He blessed me once and he can do it again So when the rains don't fall and the crops all fail And the cows ain't puttin'...

(Genesis 26:6-11) Another laughing episode. But wait! It's not what you think, this might be the strangest case of laughter yet seen in the narrative. It involves Moses, Samson, and even Jesus. Always pay attention when the story draws your attention to laughter.

We continue our look at the reoccurring themes of Genesis 26. Abimelech, famine, going to a land as God says, and a covenant. Sound familiar? It should.   

(Genesis 26: 1-6) And..we're back! I hope you're ready for reoccurring generational themes, restating of covenants, and more Abimelech.

(Genesis 25:34) And we are back! We've got a great show for you today; it has it all: Hitler, Indiana Jones, Monty Python, Allusions to The Exodus, and an unwillingness to move to chapter 26!

(Genesis 25:29-34) I don't like your little games Don't like your tilted stage The role you made me play of the fool No, I don't like you I don't like your perfect crime How you laugh when you lie You said the soup was mine Isn't cool, no, I don't like you

(Genesis 25:27-28) Esau. A man of the land. A man of integrity. Someone who values family and understands the importance of trust. When it comes to leaders, we need someone who is strong. Someone who works hard for their inheritance. But his opponent, Jacob, wants your trust. Can you trust a man who takes advantage of his own family's hunger? We need a leader who respects tradition, who is honest,...

(Genesis 25) Esau really is like the Thanos of Biblical characters, right? But instead of Infinity stones, he has traits from every bad actor in the story. To be fair, Isaac has a few bad traits as well. I guess nobody’s perfect, especially God’s people. It must be exhausting always rooting for the antihero.

(Genesis 25) Gandalf is on vacation, so we don't have a witty description for you today. You know what we are talking about: meal imagery, brother imagery, and pop culture references.

(Genesis 25) “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided" Time to breakout Chekhov's Gun again. Anytime you see two brothers mentioned in the story, you better pay attention.

(Genesis 25:19-28) The end is nigh, the singularity is upon us. The crew have finally done it, they are arguing about Biblical interpretation with an AI.

(Genesis 25:12-18) Abraham's life is over, but his story still echoes in his sons.

It's easy to judge biblical characters behind thousands of years and the pages of the Bible, but what did the ancients see when they looked at these figures of God? This week, we take a moment to reflect on on the actions of Abraham, David, and Solomon.

(Genesis 25-1:18) The Abraham arc never ends, but his time on earth does. After following his story for the last two seasons, we start to wind down Abraham’s role in this narrative. This week we talk about his legacy and how to fairly interpret ancient biblical characters despite our modern sensibilities.   

(Genesis 24:29-67) Guest contributor Kaitlin Flowers makes her second appearance to discuss her specialty: hospitality! Water, food, and provision are symbols we've seen before. This week, we discuss their significance.

(Genesis 24:10-28) Please welcome Kaitlin Flowers as our guest mystery contributor! This week we talk about water, camels, limited real estate in the Bible, and Indiana Jones.

For some reason, Nathan Vanhorn didn't want to record with the flu. Weird.

The mystery contributor is not allowed to guess

(Genesis 24:10-21) So like, this guy Abraham's servant went on a mission to find a wife for his son Isaac, right? He packed a bunch of cool stuff and took off on this trip. He ended up chilling at a well in a town called Nahor. He was like, "Yo, God, help me find the perfect girl for my bro Isaac." Just then, this super pretty girl named Rebekah rolled up with a jar to get some water. The servant...

(Genesis 24:1-9) We have it all for you on this one. KFC, scandalous topics, singing, conflicting interpretations, and overlooked biblical truths. Our favorite biblical character: Eliezer of Damascus is given a task of the upmost importance by Abraham. Also, does anyone actually read these? I genuinely want to know. I try every week to make these as engaging as possible, just to add a little spice...

(Genesis 23) Trees, deals, land promises, and repeated words. We've seen all of this before, and we should know by now to pay close attention when the Bible uses these recurring symbols. From forgotten civilizations to ancestral graves, we discuss the start of Abraham's legacy.

(Genesis 22:20-24) One of the major recurrences in the Bible is genealogies. As we know, nothing is in the Bible for no reason. So, what is the genealogy at the end of chapter 22 meant to teach us? The crew dives deep into the text as we wrap up this chapter and begin to wind down the story of Abraham's life.

(Genesis 22) If there's one thing we have learned working on this podcast, it's that the Bible is very deliberate in the way it draws attention to certain elements in order to show something to the reader. But, it is possible to read too much into the text; especially when it comes to identifying when the text is foreshadowing Jesus! So how can we be sure when the Old Testament contains Jesus? We...