The Naked Bible Podcast

During the recent annual meetings for biblical studies scholars held in San Antonio, Dr. Heiser interviewed a number of scholars about their recent work. In Part 2 of those interviews, we meet Dr. Andy Naselli (New Testament professor at Bethlehem College and Seminary), Mike Licona (Theology professor at Houston Baptist University), Dr. Sam Lamerson (President & New Testament professor, Knox T...

During the recent annual meetings for biblical studies scholars held in San Antonio, Dr. Heiser interviewed a number of scholars about their recent work. In this first installment, we hear from Dr. Carl Sanders and Thomas Hudgens (respectively, professors of Theology and New Testament at Lancaster Bible College & Graduate School), and Randall Price of World of the Bible Ministries.

Dr. Heiser answers your questions.

Ezekiel 18 focuses on one central idea: individual accountability for one’s own sinfulness. The chapter opens with God’s rejection of the pervasive Israelite idea that the suffering of one generation is the result of the sins of previous generations. The message God wants to communicate through the prophet is that the Israelites in captivity in Babylon and those about to suffer the destruction of...

Everyone interested in the study of Scripture wants to feel adequate to the task. But there are many obstacles—real and merely imagined—to being competent in Bible study. In this episode Dr. Heiser interviews his long-time friend and colleague, Johnny Cisneros. With skills in biblical language study and doctoral candidate status in instructional design, Johnny Cisneros is the perfect person to not...

Ezekiel 17 presents a riddle or parable of two eagles about the treachery of Zedekiah, the puppet governor appointed by Nebuchadnezzar to replace Jehoiachin, the Judahite king taken captive in an earlier wave of exile of which Ezekiel had been a part. Zedekiah would be captured in the last phase of exile, the destruction of Jerusalem, in 586 B.C. Part of the riddle includes messianic language of t...

Ezekiel 16 is known for being the most sexually explicit chapter in the Bible. Some scholars even consider it pornographic. The prophet casts the city of Jerusalem as a whore when articulating why God has condemned it and marked it for destruction. This episode explores the portrayal of spiritual apostasy as wanton whoredom in all its ugliness—and God’s amazing ability to forgive in spite of it.

The words of Ezekiel 14-15 were addressed to Jewish elders in Babylon who had come to Ezekiel for a word from the Lord. Knowing they were still idol worshippers in their hearts, God refused to give them comfort. Instead he lowered the boom: Jerusalem’s judgment was certain. God’s case is presented in language drawn from Leviticus 26, which had foreshadowed Israel’s apostasy and expulsion from the...

The prophet Ezekiel has telegraphed the doom of Jerusalem in a series of visual re-enactment signs, visions, and prophetic oracles. Chapters 12-13 continue with more sign acts, but shifts to God’s assessment of objections by the exiles as to the certainty of Jerusalem’s fate. God therefore directs Ezekiel to demolish the idea that “We have heard all this doom and gloom before, but nothing ever hap...

Fern and Audrey return with an update on their work with ritual abuse survivors, and introduce a colleague (“Beth”) who does the same work. Beth tells listeners her own story of growing up in “traditional” deliverance ministry, and how her approach to helping survivors now is different in light of the divine council worldview. Fern & Audrey are no longer associated with Discovering Mercy. Fern...

Ezekiel 10-11 are the concluding chapters to a prophetic vision that began in chapter 8. In this episode we discover how these chapters provide more Godhead talk from the Old Testament and the departure of the glory of God from the temple.

Dr. Heiser answers your questions.   links referenced: Romans 5:12 and the fate of the unborn, aborted, those who cannot believe Dissociative Disorder Link to Mike’s recommended reading for 2nd Temple Jewish Literature  (not mentioned on the show)… links to two annotated bibliographies on 2nd Temple Jewish Literature: Part 1 – bibliography Part 2 – bibliography

Ezekiel 8 and 9 falls in the section of Ezekiel that concerns two themes: the punishment of Jerusalem and the departure of the glory of God. In Chapter 8 we’re introduced to some specific points of Israelite idolatry – worship of Asherah and worshipping the creator as though he were part of creation. Ezekiel 9 hearkens back to our earlier episode about God keeping a record of the faithful. The jud...

Having performed a series of sign acts dramatizing the demise of Jerusalem and the temple in (Ezek 4-5) and explaining the justification for God’s punishment (Ezek 6), in Ezekiel 7 the prophet tries to jolt the exiles with the reality of the impending doom. Ezekiel 7’s main feature is its dramatic repetition of doom, a feature necessitated by the belief of many Israelites in the inviolability of Z...

Chapter 6 of the book of Ezekiel focuses on the primary reason for Judah’s exile: idolatry. This episode discusses the vocabulary used by Ezekiel for idolatry and spiritual apostasy and its links back to passages like Leviticus 26, which connect occupation of the Promised Land to believing loyalty to Yahweh alone. pdfs referenced: HIGH PLACES IDOLS

These two chapters of Ezekiel confront the reader with a series of “sign acts” on the part of the prophet. These signs are dramatic visualizations of events that are or will befall Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonians. They present a range of interpretive problems that are discussed in this episode. pdf referenced: Ezekiel 4-5

The second and third chapters of Ezekiel continue the episode of his call as a prophet. This episode of the podcast focuses on some interpretive issues in the chapters as well as some divine council elements that get less attention than chapter 1.

The vision of Ezekiel 1 (also described in Ezekiel 10) is one of the more famous passages in the Bible. It’s also one of the most misunderstood. In this episode Dr. Heiser explains what we’re looking at in Ezekiel 1 and what it means. Along the way, it will be clear that Ezekiel isn’t describing a flying saucer or anything that would have been unfamiliar to an Israelite. We can know what Ezekiel s...

This episode marks the beginning of the Naked Bible Podcast series on the book of Ezekiel. Several characteristics set Ezekiel off from the rest of the classical (“Writing”) prophets: the prophet’s bizarre behavior, the use of symbols and symbolic acts, and the emphasis on the Spirit. This episode introduces the prophet and what to expect as we explore the book in future series episodes.

Our 15th Question and Answer episode!

In view of Mike’s work on the divine council and Psalm 82 in his best-selling book, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible, many have asked what’s going on in John 10, where Jesus defends his deity by quoting Psalm 82. The consensus interpretation has the gods of Psalm 82 as only people – Jewish elders or Israelites at Sinai (both of which are unmentioned in Psalm 82)...

Our 14th Question and Answer episode!

This episode continues and concludes our discussion on the book of Obadiah, with an emphasis on its foretelling of Edom’s doom and how that prophecy was – and will be – fulfilled.

Chances are good that you’ve never read the book of Obadiah. If you have, you likely haven’t given it much thought. In this first of two episodes devoted to the book, we get a bird’s eye view of what Obadiah is about and why it’s important for forming our theological thinking in some unexpected ways.

Our 13th Question and Answer episode! paper and video referenced: Heiser OT Response to Pagan Divination