Showing titles in Bibles & Bible Study

For Jacob Wright, the Bible is not only a testimony of survival, but also an unparalleled achievement in human history. Forged after Babylon's devastation of Jerusalem, it makes not victory but total humiliation the foundation of a new idea of belonging. Lamenting the destruction of their homeland, scribes who composed the Bible imagined a promise-filled past while reflecting deeply on abject failure.

In the first part of the fourth chapter of the epistle of James, the author wrote about the unanswered selfish prayers of those who primarily pray for what they want. The obvious conclusion is that truly godly people should always pray for what the Lord wants of them rather than for what they might hope to get for themselves from Him. In the second part of the fourth chapter, he wrote about the importance of putting the Lord first in all things. The reasons for doing that are many. It is important to live a holy life. It is important for the saints of God to hold up each other. It is ...

This book has taken three fairly short books that are very similar to each other and combined them into one book. The three books are God Was in Control of Abraham's Circumstances, God Was in Control of Job's Circumstances, and God Was in Control of Joseph's Circumstances. One can learn different lessons from each saint. So it just makes sense to combine the three short books into one still fairly short book. There is one note, however, to be made with respect to the organization of this text before concluding this Introduction. Something that the reader might find useful is boxes ...

This book begins by examining the two occasions when Satan and the "sons of God" presented themselves in heaven before the Lord. A brief explanation will be offered at that time concerning the use of the term "sons of God" and what it has meant in other places in the Bible, especially in Genesis 6:2 and Genesis 6:4. From there, the discussion will show how people can know that Job actually lived and when he had probably lived. The point will even be made that some theologians believe that Moses might have been the author of the book of Job. Next, the visit to Job by his three friends will ...

Para muchos, sigue siendo un hermoso libro cerrado que adorna nuestra biblioteca personal. Pero ¿por qué no es el más leído? Y la respuesta parece ser, que es una lectura agotadora, porque invita a pensar y a reflexionar con gran intensidad. Es así como muchos comienzan a leerla, pero después de algunos capítulos, la dejan de lado. Esto sucede en muchos casos porque no es fácil comprender lo que se lee. En efecto, La Biblia nos presenta rápidamente muchos nombres y lugares desconocidos que si no sabemos ubicar geográfica e históricamente, hace que nos perdamos.

Welcome to Kingdom of Priests: After the Order of Melchizedek, a booklet dedicated to exploring the profound mystery and purpose behind Yahweh’s calling of His people to a royal priesthood that transcends the old covenant. This unique priesthood, established “after the order of Melchizedek,” finds its ultimate fulfillment in Yahshua Messiah, our eternal High Priest, who invites believers into a new covenant relationship.

This short book has been written to share a couple of very important spiritual truths. The first, called the Eternality of Bible Truth, maintains that every word of the Bible has always been true even before it was spoken or written. The second truth is that the Old Testament saints probably did not hear God's audible, out loud voice. That simple statement is not meant to sound heretical. Those words are also not meant to deny anything that Christians have traditionally believed about God. The real message is that what we have many times just accepted as truth in the Bible may in fact not ...

One cannot study the opening chapters of the book of Genesis without getting into some very weighty issues. There is, of course, the first chapter that talks about Creation. But there are also other issues as well. For example, who wrote the book of Genesis? Not everyone will agree that it was Moses. Plus, when, if he did write it, did he actually write it? As will be seen in that part of this text, the higher critics have argued against Moses for a reason that will be shared at that time. But other critics have also argued against Moses, as being the author of the first five books of the ...

When this book was begun in late November 2013, the intent was to write a commentary on chapter five of Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus. But about fifty pages into that endeavor, it became clear that the book was not going in that direction. For one thing, his letter to that church had not even been mentioned in those pages. For another, the focus up to that point had been on Paul's missionary journeys. The reason for those problems was that the original intent had been to put his letter to the church into the context of his journeys. But there was so much to say about the journeys ...

This book discusses one of the most important set of verses in one of the most important chapters in one of the most important books of the Bible. The whole doctrine about being born again is based upon a conversation that Jesus had had with a Pharisee named Nicodemus. From that conversation, one can easily see the analogy between the brass serpent on a pole in the Old Testament and Jesus on the cross at Calvary. That analogy makes it clear that Jesus is the only way of salvation. People may try whatever they like. But John 14:6 says that no one comes to the Father except by the Son. All of...

Earlier this year in 2022, I completed a daily devotion book on the book of Proverbs. That book was intentionally meant to be very non-technical. By design, the devotions were meant to be easy to read and understand but without involving the reader with a lot of Hebrew words and scripture references. So that book was completed earlier this year in one very large volume. But now, this book, which is being prepared as six separate parts in six volumes, is meant to be everything that the devotion book was not meant to be. For example, each of the devotions that are in the devotion book are ...

Earlier this year in 2022, I completed a daily devotion book on the book of Proverbs. That book was intentionally meant to be very non-technical. By design, the devotions were meant to be easy to read and understand but without involving the reader with a lot of Hebrew words and scripture references. So that book was completed earlier this year in one very large volume. But now, this book, which is being prepared as six separate parts in six volumes, is meant to be everything that the devotion book was not meant to be. For example, each of the devotions that are in the devotion book are ...

This book contains a series of short essays that discuss twenty-five of the important promises from the Lord that have been stated in the scriptures. Each of the essays is basically independent of the others. But at the same time, they have also been ordered somewhat loosely from most important to least important based upon logical order. The Lord promises to love every person. He promises to be found but not indefinitely. He promises grace for salvation and living. He promises goodness and mercy. He promises salvation that cannot be lost. He promises to not be bought. He promises to resist...

Ten places in the Bible, mention is made about events and decisions that were made from, before, or since the foundation of the world. Four of those occasions were spoken by Jesus during His public ministry. One was written by the Apostle Paul. One was written by the Apostle Peter. Two occurrences were included in the book of Hebrews. Two occurrences were mentioned in the book of Revelation. In chapters one through three of this text, two of the writings about events and decisions from the foundation of the world will be shared. First, Jesus taught secrets about the Word of God and secrets ...

This text was not written to show how much better the godly kings were than the ungodly kings. It was not written to try to show that God had loved the children of Israel more than the people of all of the other nations. To the contrary, this text was written to show that, in some instances, the godly kings did some things that were just as bad as any of the ungodly kings of Israel. It was written to show that the Lord loved the people who opposed the children of Israel just like He loved the children of Israel. The notion that He had showed special favor to one type of people over another ...

Discover the profound wisdom of the Bible's Major Prophets - Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel and Daniel. Owing to their length among the Bible’s prophetic books, these are considered the Major Prophets due to their depth, scope and significance in shaping God's message. For centuries, believers have turned to these sacred texts for guidance, hope and transformation. Now, it's your turn!

This third edition of this commentary begins with Paul's final days of freedom before being arrested in Jerusalem. The timeframe was at the end of his third Bible-recorded missionary journey when he was going there to attend the celebration of Pentecost. He also went to take some financial aid to the church in Jerusalem. While there, he participated in a Nazarite ritual with four men who had taken a vow. Following that ritual, he went to the synagogue with those same four men. But as soon as some of the Jewish people saw him, they immediately accused him and attacked him. Given the ...

In the first part of the third chapter of the epistle of James, the author warned spiritual leaders within the church about being God-called and about being God-prepared for their respective ministries. That warning applies to anyone who is in a position to lead others to Christ and to also show them how to live according to biblical principles and standards. So the clear teaching is that one does not actually choose his or her own ministry. Instead the Holy Spirit places saved men and women into those positions where He would have them work for Him. Once they are in those areas of ministry...

Renowned critic and translator Robert Alter’s The Art of Biblical Narrative has radically expanded our view of the Bible by recasting it as a work of literary art deserving studied criticism. In this seminal work, Alter describes how the Hebrew Bible’s many authors used innovative literary styles and devices such as parallelism, contrastive dialogue, and narrative tempo to tell one of the most revolutionary stories of all time: the revelation of a single God. In so doing, Alter shows, these writers reshaped not only history, but also the art of storytelling itself.

Two of the books of the scriptures that should be studied daily are the book of Proverbs and the book of Psalms. The book of Proverbs will show one how to be biblically wise in the things of the Lord. That book is primarily for spiritual guidance in this existence. But even an ungodly person will prosper by studying and applying its principles. In the same sense, the book of Psalms will also benefit anyone who studies it on a regular basis. The reason that the psalms are so valuable is because they are experiential. One can read exactly how David had felt while he was running from a king ...