The Two Trees Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Before we can understand the strange story of the sons of God and the Nephilim in Genesis 6, we need to learn how the Bible speaks to the ancient world around it. Pagan cultures told stories of gods, divine-human unions, and mighty heroes from the distant past—but Genesis tells the story differently. In this episode, we explore how the Bible confronts the pagan world not by saying...

Send us Fan Mail What is the book of Enoch?  Should we be afraid of it? Should we be adding it to our Bibles? Or is there another option?  Let's take a look. If you're interested in the Book of Enoch, here are two helpful books. https://www.amazon.com/Watchers-Holy-Ones-Evangelical-Reading/dp/B0CD9BBBS8/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1QTBJMRWE5SIO&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.CUUG-XhF1-OcBHLI9ABGR1E5V5Nevv52FI...

Send us Fan Mail What's going on with all these lists of names?  Join us as we explore Genesis 5 and how it connects with the larger themes of scripture.  

Send us Fan Mail Why do cultures around the world preserve stories of a great flood, divine beings, giant heroes, and a forgotten age before history? In this episode of The Two Trees Podcast , we explore the ancient world behind Genesis and the shared cultural memory that flowed through the civilizations of the Fertile Crescent. Drawing on the concept of the "cultural river," we'll...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we explore the meaning in the genealogy of Genesis 4, and how Scripture traces two competing ways of being human: one built on self-preservation, power, and vengeance, and another built on forgiveness, service, and self-giving love. Most surprisingly, we discover that when Jesus tells Peter to forgive “seventy-seven times,” He is answering the song of Lamech with...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Two Trees Podcast, we explore humanity’s calling to image God through cultivation, beauty, and stewardship, while tracing how exile distorts even mankind’s greatest gifts. From Cain’s city to Lamech’s song of violence, this conversation examines the tension between creative genius and spiritual rebellion—and the hope that God will one day restore creation an...

Send us Fan Mail Martin & Jon explore the meaning behind Cain’s city east of Eden and what it reveals about humanity’s attempt to image God outside of the garden. Rather than treating cities merely as population centers, the ancient world saw them as places of protection, power, and spiritual authority. Tracing the story from Eden to Revelation, this episode examines how Cain rejects God’s pro...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of The Two Trees Podcast , we explore the story of Cain in Genesis 4, asking what it means to bear God’s image outside the Garden—and what happens when that calling is rejected. Tracing Cain’s motives, his refusal to master sin, and his failure as both priest and brother, we examine how the ground itself becomes a witness to his rebellion and how exile shapes the b...

Send us Fan Mail It's a dark and stormy night here in Ohio, and Martin and Jon use the opportunity to read and discuss some of Jon's book, "The Way of Eden.   https://www.amazon.com/Way-Eden-Resisting-Darkness/dp/B0G9HLLMZ6/ref=sr_1_2?crid=WL0H54WXN4V8&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Q1rmWAhwAQcqjZIU9FL5-NXnPumP_Nj34IthV0lQFCcIBGlFZ8lcu4MURp8ZC4dqBQgep-vfArcV9cCxTpyaL9M1Rq7lm5a48dSQzWQ9TkPuhpk...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of The Two Trees Podcast , we step into the haunting story of Cain and Abel in Book of Genesis 4:1–16 and explore what lies beneath the surface of the first recorded act of worship—and the first act of violence. Why are these brothers bringing offerings in the first place, and what makes Abel’s sacrifice acceptable while Cain’s is rejected? As we trace the role of...

Send us Fan Mail In our previous episode, we explored how names in the world of the Bible were never just labels—they carried identity, authority, and relationship. But what happens after humanities fall into sin? In this follow-up episode of The Two Trees Podcast , we trace the story forward—from Adam in Eden to Adam in exile, still speaking, still naming, but now in a fractured world. Drawing fr...

Send us Fan Mail In the world of the Bible, names were never just labels—they carried identity, authority, and even power. In this episode of The Two Trees Podcast , we explore how the ancient cultures surrounding Genesis understood naming as an act of ordering the world, and how that context reshapes our reading of Adam in the garden. When God brings the creatures to Adam, this is more than obser...

Send us Fan Mail We finish our discussion of Adam's exile from the Garden of Eden, and Martin tells us about his new love of theater. 

Send us Fan Mail In Genesis 3 we encounter one of the most important moments in the entire Bible: the fall of Adam and Eve and the exile from the Garden of Eden . But what actually happened in the garden? In this episode of The Two Trees Podcast , we explore the ancient story of the first human rebellion against God’s kingdom . The serpent challenges the rule of God, Adam and Eve seize control for...

Send us Fan Mail We discuss the imagery of stars and the importance of storytelling in scripture.  

Send us Fan Mail We continue our study of Chaos and Sea imagery 

Send us Fan Mail Ancient Near Eastern cultures had some interesting ideas about the sea.  Let's begin a conversation about how the Biblical authors made use of the sea to discuss spiritual ideas.  

Send us Fan Mail Why does God get so angry at Moses for striking the stone? 

Send us Fan Mail The Bible is a timeless work written for an ancient audience with powerful modern-day implications. Join us as we discuss how we can join in with the ancient conversation, not just ignore it.  

Send us Fan Mail What does the Bible tell us about the Garden of Eden?  

Send us Fan Mail Can ancient temples help us understand the Garden of Eden?

Send us Fan Mail What did ancient cultures mean when they talked about the "Heavens"?

Send us Fan Mail The Old Testament uses the word "god" differently than we typically do today.  What does the Bible mean when it calls the Lord the God of gods?  

Send us Fan Mail Jon and Martin bring you a special reading, celebrating our Lords birth.  

Send us Fan Mail It's the final week of Advent and we're looking at a very old Christian tradition the Antiphons of Advent.