Is God’s Spirit a minor character until the New Testament? This is a common misconception. Myk Habets in The Progressive Mystery insists that the Spirit is highly active in the Old Testament. Yes, there is a “fuller revelation of his identity in the New Testament,” but the Spirit “is a person, fully at work, and
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What the Book of Ruth Teaches us About Self-Sacrifical Love
Hesed is a power word in the Bible and the most important word in the book of Ruth. It shows up three times, but the concept runs through the whole story and ultimately drives the action. Naomi says it first when she attempts to part from her daughters-in-law. “May the Lord show [hesed] to you,
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Building a Joyful Spirit
Joy is important and valuable, so everyone wants more joy. Everyone is looking for happiness. Where do we find it? People look for joy in material things, in human relationships, in exotic experiences. We’ll look at some New Testament verses that express some practical ways we develop joy. Joy is Important to God God is
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Why Is It so Hard to Appreciate Proverbs?
One of the changes I can chart over the course of my career in the Bible as literature is a growing appreciation for the proverb as literary genre. Implicit in that statement is that I began with an undervaluing of proverbs as a form of literature. I want to reach back to my earlier years
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Four Common Misconceptions You Might Believe About the Gospels
The Gospels are difficult books to fully understand. Faced with the difficulties, interpreters have come up with false claims about them. Here are four common misconceptions of the Gospels that are the source of some of these difficulties. Story not Sayings The primary form of the Gospels is not the sermon or saying. The view
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The First Person to See God Face to Face
One cannot encounter God and remain unchanged. Moses descended the mountain with a radiant face. Isaiah was overwhelmed by his own inadequacy. And when it comes to Jesus’ disciples—however unlearned they were—it was evident that they had been “with Jesus.” The same can be said of Jacob, who was forever altered by his experience of
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Two Things You Need to Forget When Reading Biblical Prophecy
Unless we understand how prophetic and apocalyptic discourse is structured, these parts of the Bible will remain closed books. We will not read the prophetic and apocalyptic parts of the Bible with relish, and we will not gravitate to them naturally, if we cannot negotiate their unique patterns of organization. What Not to Expect Before we
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The Origins of the “Day of the Lord”
Although there are a variety of ways that Bible speaks of divine justice, the “day of the Lord” idiom is most prevalent. In his “day,” the Lord comes to judge His enemies and vindicate His people. The prophets regularly used this phrase (e.g. Isa 13:6; Amos 5:18), but from where did they get it? Or
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Textual Criticism and the Authority of Scripture
Textual criticism is an often misunderstood practice. If the Bible is supposed to be the inspired Word of God, how could discrepancies in the text exist? This excerpt from Textual Criticism of the Bible tackles this concern head-on. A properly aligned doctrine of Scripture recognizes the authority of the Bible while also acknowledging the human imperfections introduced
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Forget the Halos. Ditch the Harps. The New Book from Michael Heiser Has Arrived.
What do you really know about the heavenly host? Everyone knows that angels have wings, usually carry harps, and that each of us has our own personal guardian angel, right? We all have some preconceptions about angels from movies, television shows, and other media, but you might be surprised to know that a lot of
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