Old Testament

Roughly 200 Christian leaders gathered at West Houston Bible Church on Monday through Wednesday of this week for the annual Chafer Theological Seminary Pastors’ Conference.

The theme this year was “Critical Issues for Understanding the Old Testament Text.” The keynote speakers were Dr. Randall Price (president, World of the Bible Ministries), Dr. Douglas Petrovich (professor, Brookes Bible College) and Henry Smith (Associates for Biblical Research).

Read the series.

I agree that much of the New Testament text – and especially the gospels – are populated by what Richard Hays describes as “echoes,” meaning echoes of Old Testament passages.

To adjust terms to my own nomenclature, I would like to subdivide these echoes into at least three categories: allusions (allusions that are only allusions and nothing more¹), parallels (in concept, occurrence, or foreshadowings), and midrash.

Psalm 145 is an acrostic psalm, that is, the author chose to construct the psalm using the literary device of following the order of the Hebrew alphabet from aleph to tav for each successive verse. Such acrostics are rather common in the Hebrew Bible, the most famous being Psalm 119, where each successive group of eight verses begins with the same Hebrew letter. Several other Psalms follow the acrostic pattern, as do four of five chapters in Lamentations, and the final 22 verses of Proverbs 31, in praise of the “virtuous woman.”

Read Part 1.

What is the big deal about Jewish Roots? How can we better understand Jesus by examining the debates of His day? Why should we care if He derived some of His teaching from Old Testament passages?

The answer is simple: context. Jewish Roots studies can contribute toward increasing the Biblical context; when we increase context, we increase understanding.

Read the series.

And so we come to the evidence: objective evidence that the Bible is, um, unnatural, extraordinary, not like any other books. I’d suggest two lines of such evidence; we’ll look at the first one today, and a related topic later in the week. Next week, we’ll get to Door Number 2.

Review of David B. Schreiner & Lee Compson, 1 & 2 Kings: A Commentary for Biblical Preaching and Teaching, Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2022, hdbk, 315 pages.

The nation was desperate for leadership.

His improbable but swift ascent to fill the vacuum was as dramatic as it was unlikely. Humanly speaking, it was propelled solely at the behest of a praying mother.

I wish I could say that I that I was one of those smart kids who always loved history. Yet, in one sense, I guess that I did—although perhaps without realizing it.

I was always enthralled with old black-and-white television shows that whisked me to an earlier time that seemed both simpler and, yet, exhilarating. I found many aspects of the past fascinating. I was particularly mesmerized by the Middle Ages—especially as they set the stage for the dawn of the Reformation.