The Psalms (originally titled Tehillim, or "Praises") are a collection of Hebrew poetry of varying styles, purposes, authors and subject matter. Some were written in time of crisis, others for the purpose of public praise, some for personal worship and some for community remembrance. There are many types of psalms and different literary rules for properly studying their intent and purpose. Whole books have been written on the varying types of poems we find in the collection and how to read and understand their proper intent, which can be fruitful and satisfying. There are 10 types of psalms...
The story of Job takes place during the times of the Patriarchs — Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as is evidenced by his theology of sacrifice and some of the archaic language used in the text. It is definitely an Israelite work, however, as it uses YHWH as the divine name throughout the book. Job has three distinct sections: the prelude which gives us insider knowledge about Job — especially concerning his righteousness, a conclusion wherein God makes an appearance to answer the questions of Job, and an expansive middle section that presents and destroys the common answers to the question of suffering.
Certainly the original audience knew God's punishments, but this generation was soon to learn how God protects his chosen people. The story of Esther takes place during the time-frame of Ezra and Nehemiah, and specifically would have happened between Ezra chapters eight and nine. While God himself is not written into the story, nor any mention of prayer, or worship, his activities behind the scenes as Esther and Mordicai faithfully follow what they believe is God's leading is clear for all to see. This is evidenced by the celebration on Purim, which is still practiced to this day.unt.
The book of Nehemiah records the work of Nehemiah, a Jewish cup bearer to the King of Persia. It was his job to to taste the food and drink brought to the king to assure it wasn't poisoned. But Nehemiah was also a devout follower of Elohim, and as such had an overwhelming love for God and his captive nations Promised Land. As cup bearer, he received a new mission from God, one that was approved of by the Persian king. For this reason he joined the second group of Jews returning to Jerusalem and took up his new mission.
Dinah was a prime candidate for the #MeToo movement. As Jacob was migrating his cattle to a new region in Canaan, his daughter was sexually assaulted by the son of the regional leader. In reaction to the news, her brothers banded together and killed every man in the village. You wouldn't be alone if you thought the punishment was a bit harsh, Jacob thought so too and decided to move everyone, quickly, to another region (Genesis 35). Where did he go? To a place that held many memories already, a place where God had introduced himself as El Bethel.
The ancient Hebrews had an interesting worldview, one not too far from the truth. Above the Earth is the sky, the first "heaven", and then a firmament (what we today call the ozone layer) coupled with a water layer (that no longer exists as it was depleted as a part of Noah's flood). Above this was what is commonly thought of as the "heavens", what we call outer space and they called "second heaven". Higher even than this is "Heaven", where God resides and from which he rules. It is this third heaven that is view when one invokes the name Elohim Bashamayim (God in Heaven).
As mentioned elsewhere, Adonai was used as a substitute for the speaking of the Tetragrammaton (YHWH) and occurs 315 times in the Old Testament. The name itself expresses authority and the exalted position which God alone holds. The Hebrew word Adon is the singular of Adonai, and had a range of meaning. To the Jews the word could be used of men, angels, or gods — anyone of great authority or who might be called "master". Adonai, like Elohim, is plural but when used with other singular verbs it was understood to be the name of the God (a being) who relates to people (creatures).
When we started this series on the names of God, I started with our previous three-day series, expanding on those paragraphs and turning them into full page studies. We're close to finishing the previous list, and as I've been researching I've found that my organization has something to be desired. For instance, I've learned that there are three primary names of God, 43 compound names using YHWH and 24 others based on El/Elohim. It's too late to correct the site, but we will do a better job when we publish the names in a PDF book we'll make available to our dedicated readers.
"Media" used to mean "print media" like books and newspapers, but the world has grown. Today media can also mean radio, television and movies delivered to personal computers, tablets and cell phones. As the world's best selling book of all time the Bible continues to make headlines, both good and bad, across all forms of media. A California city tries to tax a local church in violation of state and federal laws and the Church of Latter-Day Saints is dropping the use of the word "Mormon" in hopes of gaining more religious credibility.
"Media" used to mean "print media" like books and newspapers, but the world has grown. Today media can also mean radio, television and movies delivered to personal computers, tablets and cell phones. As the world's best selling book of all time the Bible continues to make headlines, both good and bad, across all forms of media. Britain wants to add atheism to their religions class, an atheist in Australia turns to Jesus and the rumors may be true after all that China wants to edit the Bible to make it conform to their Communist ideology.
"Media" used to mean "print media" like books and newspapers, but the world has grown. Today media can also mean radio, television and movies delivered to personal computers, tablets and cell phones. As the world's best selling book of all time the Bible continues to make headlines, both good and bad, across all forms of media. This week in the Bible and Media: Chinese Christians strike back against persecution, The Wall Street Journal calls for humanity to move past cruel and oppressive concepts like hell as taught in the Bible, and a teenager survives 7 weeks at sea by reading his Bible and praying.
"Media" used to mean "print media" like books and newspapers, but the world has grown. Today media can also mean radio, television and movies delivered to personal computers, tablets and cell phones. As the world's best selling book of all time the Bible continues to make headlines, both good and bad, across all forms of media. This week in the Bible and Media: While the Emmy Awards show continues to belittle Christians, an entire host of prestigious people continue to openly discuss their faith in public forums, including Chris Pratt, Mark Wahlberg, Odell Beckham, Jr. and more.
