Episodes
Sunday Apr 23, 2023
Sunday Apr 23, 2023
We’re going to look at Daniel, Revelation, and Enoch within the context of post-exilic Israel to find out what an apocalypse is, what it isn’t, and how the original audience would have read it. We’ll also cover what the Prophets are and are not, as well as historical narratives and how getting these confused with Apocalyptic writings make the popular books on Revelation not even worth the paper they are printed on.
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/04/episode-168-the-study-series-14-apocalyptic-literature-vs-prophecy-vs-historical-narratives/
Sunday Apr 16, 2023
Episode 167: Study Series 13—Your Bible is an Interpretation
Sunday Apr 16, 2023
Sunday Apr 16, 2023
Translation isn’t an exact science and there is no “one true interpretation”—not in any language. Translators have to look at words in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek and then make hard choices about which word in their own language would be the best substitute. And not every word can be translated easily—some can’t be translated at all because the original meaning of the word was lost. Also, sometimes Paul simply seems to have made up words by putting two actual words together. Words like dayenu, shema, ubuntu, and many others throughout the world cannot be translated without using a whole sentence or phrase. In addition, when the Bible was first written down, there were no vowel points in Hebrew and there were no spaces between words in Greek—who the heck thought that was a good idea anyway?
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/04/episode-167-study-series-13-your-bible-is-an-interpretation/
Sunday Mar 19, 2023
Episode 166: The Study Series 12—The Speaker, Audience and Context of Verses
Sunday Mar 19, 2023
Sunday Mar 19, 2023
If you have ever sent me a question asking me about such and such, I will almost always ask you for the book, chapter and verse. Not because I don’t know my Bible, but because I respect it enough not to lean on the Holy Spirit to teach me something out of context. Who a section of Scripture is addressed to is just important as who the speaker is, what situation is being addressed, the genre type, and what the historical reality is. When we don’t know these things, we can turn the Bible into a cherry-picker’s idea of paradise where anything can mean whatever we want it to mean.
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/03/episode-166-the-study-series-12-the-speaker-audience-and-context-of-verses/
Sunday Mar 05, 2023
Sunday Mar 05, 2023
One of the most misunderstood and definitely the most misused Bible study aid is Strong’s Concordance. Today we’re going to find out what the problem is, what a Concordance is and isn’t and what it should and shouldn’t be used for. Warning: this lesson will likely make you wince at a lot of YouTube sermons.
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/03/episode-165-study-11-binding-the-strongs-man-how-not-to-use-a-concordance/
Sunday Feb 26, 2023
Episode 164: Purim 2023—Honor, Shame and Two Brave Queens
Sunday Feb 26, 2023
Sunday Feb 26, 2023
The book of Esther is a thrilling story to read about and yet we rarely look into what this would have been like to live through for the two very brave and virtuous (yes, both of them) Queens who had to walk a knife edge within the world of honor/shame dynamics where a shamed woman could easily wind up a dead woman. (And yes, Mordecai was her cousin--not sure where my brain was on that and why I didn't catch it in editing.)
For families, I recommend the more child-friendly content that I will be putting out on Wednesday at contextforkids.podbean.com and contextforkids.com
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/02/episode-164-purim-2023-honor-shame-and-two-brave-queens/
Monday Feb 20, 2023
Episode 163: Sociology II—Religion, Weird Science, and Practical Linguistics
Monday Feb 20, 2023
Monday Feb 20, 2023
You might be wondering why we need to talk about religion when we are already studying the Bible—but religion in the ancient world was nothing like what we experience today. There was no separation between “church and state” or church and anything. Religion was everything and everything was religious. We’re going to tie ancient religion into their pre-scientific beliefs, and we are also going to talk about some of the wrong ways to treat ancient words in modern interpretations.
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/02/episode-163-sociology-ii-religion-weird-science-and-practical-linguistics/
Sunday Feb 05, 2023
Episode 162 Sociology I: Groupthink, Holy/Profane and Clean/Unclean
Sunday Feb 05, 2023
Sunday Feb 05, 2023
Anyone who knows me knows that ancient sociology is my absolute favorite aspect of Biblical context. Today we’ll talk about the ancient community identity, and the differences between Holy and Profane/Common as well as Clean vs Unclean. They are all entirely different but once you understand them, the Bible makes a whole lot more sense!
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/02/episode-162-sociology-i-groupthink-holy-profane-and-clean-unclean/
Tuesday Dec 20, 2022
Episode 161: The Advent of John the Baptist in Luke
Tuesday Dec 20, 2022
Tuesday Dec 20, 2022
Sometimes we forget that the Gospels contain three, and not just two, advent accounts because the arrival of “Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord” was anticipated almost as much as the coming of the Messiah Himself! And it’s an exciting story full of angelic visitations, a barren older mamma, a prophetic unborn child, and a dad who is quite literally speechless!
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2022/12/episode-161-the-advent-of-john-the-baptist-in-luke/
Sunday Dec 11, 2022
Episode 160: Special Teaching #1--The Advent of the Messiah in Matthew
Sunday Dec 11, 2022
Sunday Dec 11, 2022
As this is the time of year when a third of the world is focused on the birth of Immanuel, and many believe that Hannukah was the time of His divine conception, I wanted to spend a few weeks learning about the account that Matthew and Luke dedicated two chapters each teaching us. This week we will learn Joseph’s story in the Gospel of Matthew. What better time of year to become educated about the answer to so many Jewish prayers for so long?
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2022/12/episode-160-special-teaching-1-the-advent-of-the-messiah-in-matthew/
Sunday Dec 04, 2022
Episode 159: The Study Series--Understanding Polemic and Irony
Sunday Dec 04, 2022
Sunday Dec 04, 2022
I have always enjoyed teaching the ancient art of polemic but I have never actually taught Biblical irony before and I can tell you that it is absolutely a game changer for understanding how the Bible works, how the Kingdom of Heaven works, and how God works. I really enjoyed putting this one together, and I have some great book recommendations for you.
Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2022/12/episode-189-the-study-series-understanding-polemic-and-irony/