November 29, 2015. Daily Reading: II Peter 1-3. Background: This letter is attributed to Peter as the second letter that he writes to the churches spread throughout Asia Minor (see background to I Peter), though many scholars contest Petrine authorship and would rather place it in the pseudepigrapha. The date, along with the authorship, has been…
Category: Christianity
Acts 10-12: The gospel goes to the Gentiles.
November 28, 2015. Daily Reading: Acts 10-12. Background: Acts 9. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 10 The gospel given to the Gentiles: Up until this point in the book of acts, the good news about Christ really had only gone to the Jews. Even when the believers were scattered abroad after the stoning of Stephen spoke…
Ecclesiastes 9-10: Wisdom and folly.
November 26, 2015. Daily Reading: Ecclesiastes 9-10. Background Reading: Ecclesiastes 7-8. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 9 Time and chance happen to all: Similar to the preachers words in the second chapter, he looks out again here and sees that the same event (death) happens to all men, regardless of how righteous they are. Though he…
Deuteronomy 7-9: The Lord’s chosen people.
November 23, 2015. Daily Reading: Deuteronomy 7-9. Background: Deuteronomy 4-6. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 7 Set apart from the world: In this chapter, Moses addresses the children of Israel to teach them what kind of people that are and ought to be. The children of Israel were a holy people, not because of their own…
I Peter 4-5: Suffering and transformation.
November 22, 2015. Daily Reading: I Peter 4-5. Background: I Peter 1-3. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 4 1. Being transformed: As Peter gave the example of Christ’s suffering for righteousness sake in the previous chapter, he builds off the symbolism of the rebirth of baptism to show how we as Christians are to be dead…
Habakkuk 1-3: What the Lord is doing.
November 20, 2015. Daily Reading: Habakkuk 1-3. Background: Very little is known about the prophet Habakkuk, as we are not given his family linage, hometown or who was in power when he carried out his ministry from the text. His name even is not a common Hebrew name and it is only found twice in…
Ecclesiastes 7-8: Contrasts.
November 19, 2015. Daily Reading: Ecclesiastes 7-8. Background: Ecclesiastes 5-6. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 7 Contrasting: In this chapter, the preacher sets forth many contrasting ideas and reveals wisdom from these juxtapositions. The first half of the chapter is dedicated to proverb-like sayings, focusing at first on the contrast between death and life, sadness and…
II Chronicles 25-28: Kings of Judah.
November 17, 2015. Daily Reading: II Chronicles 25-28. Background: II Chronicles 21-24. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 25 Amaziah: After Joash is assassinated, his son Amaziah is set up to be king. Amaziah had a strong start in doing what was right in the sight of the Lord, even adhering to the Law when delving out…
Deuteronomy 4-6: Hear, O Israel.
November 16, 2015. Daily Reading: Deuteronomy 4-6. Background: Deuteronomy 1-3. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 4 The people of God: After going over their history in the past three chapters, Moses now turns to the people of God to command their obedience. They were about to enter the promised land, and Moses wanted to remind them…
Genesis 6-8: The flood.
January 19, 2014. Daily Reading: Genesis 6-8. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 6 1. Nephilim: There is an interesting concept at the beginning of this chapter on the topic of the Nephilim, who were giants in the land. Angels are often referred to as “the sons of God” in the Old Testament, thus the Nephilim were…
Romans 5-6: Justification and baptism.
January 18, 2014. Daily Reading: Romans 5-6. Background: Romans 3-4. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 5 1. Christian peace: Continuing on with his dialog of the differences between justification by faith and justification by works, Paul explains how the paradigm shift that the Jews needed would bring the peace of Christ. Under the idea that there…
Let’s study through the bible this year, shall we?
January 1, 2015. Well, it’s that time of year again when we see a new year turn and use the motivation of a clean slate and new beginning to make resolutions that are aim at improving various aspects of our lives. Some resolutions will be realized while many will fall to the back burner within…
Twenty Eight Eighteen 