Bridge to God’s Word

The first part of the New Testament introduces the fulfillment of God's plan for redemption! This is done through the birth, life, and death of Jesus Christ. This podcast considers Jesus' birth, his ministry of power, his teaching of the Kingdom of God, and how God's plan is fulfilled through his death and resurrection. The Kingdom is opened!

Now that we have completed the Old Testament, we are moving on to the New Testament! This podcast has a bit of review - looking at the overall storyline of the Bible and the major themes and promises introduced in the Old Testament. Then, we move into the New Testament, looking at the structure of the books and how that fits the storyline of the Bible. Along with that, we consider how the major th...

At the end of the Old Testament, the Israelites return to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls, relearn the law, and wait for the Promised One to come. In the New Testament, not only is the Temple rebuilt, but we see a fully functioning religious system, with Pharisees, Sadducees, priests, scribes, and rabbis. So how did this change happen? This podcast looks at the many political and religious changes...

Israel remained in exile for seventy years, but then things started to change! In three groups, Jews returned from exile to rebuild the temple, restore worship of God, and then rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. A mixture of hope and sadness marked this time as the Jews sought covenant faithfulness once again.     Photo by Ales Me on Unsplash

We only get a small glimpse of life in exile for the Israelites through the books of Ezekiel and Daniel. Each of these men prophesied both judgment and hope, though they had different audiences, and each one revealed a different part of God's plan for restoration. 

In the last episode, we discussed the split of Israel into two nations: Israel and Judah. This episode looks at the kings who ruled Israel and Judah and the prophets who brought God's word to the people. Unfortunately, neither nation devoted themselves to the Lord, and both ultimately fell. The picture with this episode is ruins of the Second Temple, which was actually built after the Jews returne...

Solomon's kingship was a time of great prosperity for Israel. It seems like the promise is being fulfilled! But this episode reveals that Solomon wasn't the promised king. We look at Solomon's successor and how the Kingdom of Israel ultimately divides into two. How will God fulfill his promise now?

The last episode considered whether the Israelites following the law mediated by judges could solve the sin problem, and in this episode we turn to a new attempt to solve the sin problem - a king. Will a king be able to keep Israel on track? We look at Saul, David, and Solomon and see an amazing covenant that God makes with David.

The Israelites are now poised to enter the Promised Land, and it looks like the promise to Abraham is being fulfilled. This podcast looks at the books of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth as the Israelites enter the Promised Land, fight to possess it, and then attempt to follow the Law. Will the Law solve the sin problem? 

On this episode I am joined by a special guest - my daughter Jamie! On this short Christmas episode, I look at a Christmas tradition which ties the story of the Bible to the magic of Christmas - the Jesse tree. Jamie helps me to explain what a Jesse tree is and how it helps us to prepare our hearts for the birth of the Messiah. The picture with the episode shows our tree, plus the ornaments that J...

The books of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy can be hard to understand because they are full of rituals and laws that we don't totally understand. However, these books help us to understand what it takes for us to approach a holy God, and leave us with the question of whether a "theocracy" - a government by God - is what will bring people back into a relationship with God and solve the sin pro...

The last episode ended with the Israelites in Egypt. God's promise is threatened as the Israelites face the possibility of being wiped out by the Egyptians. This podcast shows God's miraculous rescue of His people, and the covenant He makes which will guide the nation for the rest of its history.  Here is the link to the blog post that is mentioned:  https://bridgetogodsword.org/the-bible-story-an...

After humanity's initial attempts to solve the problem of sin, God steps in and shows again that He will solve the problem through Himself. He promises Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob a coming "son" that will save the world from the problem of sin and restore the world to relationship with him, the only way that peace will be possible.

Now that you have an overview of the story, we return to the beginning of the story. With creation, we discuss questions such as "why did God create?" and "did God know that humans would sin?" Then we look at the stories of creation, the fall, the flood, and the tower of Babel and consider how they reflect the overall theme of the Bible.

Ever feel like you need a "roadmap" through the Bible? This podcast is the beginning of a series that will be an overview of the Bible. We will look at the theme of the Bible and how all the stories work together to demonstrate that theme. This podcast is a quick overview of the Old Testament so that you can get an idea of the arrangement of all the stories before we take an in-depth look at how t...

In this episode of the podcast, we dive into theology and take a look at the nature of Jesus. Normally when we talk about Jesus, we think mostly about salvation, but here we look at how and why Jesus is both human and divine. This is a doctrine called the "hypostatic union". 

In the last hundred years, there have been nearly ninety Bible translations! All of these translations are a resource for us, but it often raises the questions of "Why are there so many?" and "Are they all accurate?" This podcast discusses the reasons there are so many translations, and why they sound different from each other, but are still faithful translations of the original. It also includes...

Following the Reformation, Bible translation into English was given a political boost by the Anglican church. This podcast talks about the translations that were done during the late Reformation period up until the time of the King James Version, which ended the second major period of translation. If you are interested in knowing more about the King James Version, this podcast is for you! The pict...

"Canon" means "measuring rod", and in speaking of the Bible it means the books which have been tested and included in the Bible as God's inspired word. In this podcast I explore the formation of the Canon - in other words, how were these books chosen? I look at the formation process of the Canon over the years of Biblical history, with who made the final decisions on the books and what criteria th...

This podcast picks up at the end of the 1000 year period of no Bible translation. Several key figures began a reformation within the church, including John Wycliffe, Martin Luther, and William Tyndale. Interestingly, each of these men called for reform in the church, and for each of them, people reading the Bible in their own language was part of the reform they wanted. 

This podcast looks at the early period of translations - the first translation of the Hebrew Bible, and the translations that followed the death of Christ. These translations were marked by two things: persecution, and growth of the church. The fire of persecution caused an explosion of translation!

This podcast starts a series on how we got the English Bible. Why are there so many different translations? Are they reliable? We are going to look at the history of the English Bible through the centuries and answer some of these questions. We will start at the very beginning - who wrote the Bible in the first place? This podcast describes the doctrine of "inspiration" - men carried along by the...

In this podcast we reach the final step of the Bridge Bible Study method: application. After we understand the overarching principles of the passage, it is important to look at how they apply in our cultural context, along with how they apply to our own lives personally. We look at the principles we have gleaned from Mark 1:21-28 along with some possible applications to American culture and some q...

This podcast finishes the "Interpretation" phase of our study of Mark 1:21-28. We consider the second tool that can be used for interpretation - using commentaries. Since many people have already studied these passages, we can read what they have to say in order to help understand the underlying meaning of the text. The three commentaries referenced are the Word Biblical Commentary, the New Americ...

This podcast moves on to the next step of the Bridge Bible Study method: interpretation. We continue to study Mark 1:21-28 by looking at what tools help us to understand the overarching principles of the text that apply to all times and all places. In this episode, we consider the first tool for interpretation, which is using cross-references. The Bible itself can help us understand the meaning of...