As part of their covenant with the Lord, the Israelites were given regulations concerning what is considered clean and unclean. At times this is a means of health and well-being, at other times it serves as a distinction from surrounding nations. The term “unclean” doesn’t necessarily mean those things are dirty, germ-infested, or immoral, though some of them certainly are, but these things are all ceremonially unclean; this is how Israel is to be set-apart from other nations, and given fully to...
Feb 26, 2025•30 min•Season 7Ep. 36
As you continue to listen to these instructions on sacrifices, I encourage you to imagine what it would be like to experience these sacrifices. The warmth of a live animal and the feel of coarse hair under your hand as the animal is slaughtered for your sin; the smell of incense and roasting meat; the sight of blood splattered onto the clean, hand-crafted tunics of the priest who go before the Lord to make atonement. It all communicates something deeper about the gravity of sin and the graciousn...
Feb 25, 2025•30 min•Season 7Ep. 35
We are beginning the book of Leviticus; the title basically means, “pertaining to the Levites,” as this book dives deeper into the responsibilities of priests and the divine-human relationship codified on Mount Sinai. These are instructions on how an impure people can be made holy by obedience to a perfect God. We’ll look at four kinds of offering today. The burnt offering is given with prayer or praise to seek God’s face and favor. The grain offering is generally offered along with another offe...
Feb 24, 2025•25 min•Season 7Ep. 34
Well today is our last episode in the book of Acts, and as this book concludes, we see Paul continue to contend for the faith that was delivered to the saints once for all. He presents his position to kings and noblemen, respectfully arguing that his position is valid and worthy of consideration. We also see that his Jewish audience is willing to listen to him up until a certain point, and that breaking point is sadly consistent. The Jews turn on Paul in outrage as soon as he suggests that this ...
Feb 21, 2025•30 min•Season 7Ep. 33
As Paul’s group says farewell to the Ephesians, a Judean prophet predicts that Paul will be taken into custody if he goes to Jerusalem, but Paul is still determined to go. Though he and other fellow believers try to show the Jews that Paul is not a blasphemer, it seems to be of little use. A riot ensues and Paul is attacked. The local officials step in to help, finding out later that Paul is a Roman citizen. When Paul is taken into custody by the state, a mob forms and secretly plots to kill him...
Feb 20, 2025•31 min•Season 7Ep. 32
Paul continues to preach the good news of Jesus from city to city, and the Jews continue to be jealous of the attention he is getting by preaching Jesus. Riots ensue, often because Jewish leaders conspire to work up crowds against the apostles. Both Jews and Greeks come to faith in Christ, and new churches are planted. Finally, Paul says goodbye to the Ephesian church elders, knowing he will never see them again. Our passage begins where we last left Paul and Luke, as they are travelling through...
Feb 19, 2025•32 min•Season 7Ep. 31
Today we’ll look at the first missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas, and at the end of our episode we’ll begin Paul’s second journey accompanied in part by Luke, the writer of the book of Acts. Men and women from different backgrounds, cultures, and occupations are hearing the message of Christ and turning to Him in faith. We’ll also witness a convention of church leaders meeting together to discuss how to best direct their new Gentile brothers and sisters in the faith. Despite opposition from...
Feb 18, 2025•32 min•Season 7Ep. 30
In the chapters ahead of us we’ll see Phillip, one of the twelve apostles, getting directions from God to go evangelize an Ethiopian eunuch, and after baptizing the new convert, Philip disappears from the site and reappears in another city. We’ll also see the young Jewish leader named Saul has his heart set on persecuting all those who belong to the Way of Jesus, but the Lord interrupts him and creates drastic change in his heart and life. Peter receives a vision from the Lord, communicating to ...
Feb 14, 2025•32 min•Season 7Ep. 29
Well, if you hadn’t quite it together just yet, the book of Acts gets it’s name because it is packed with action. The apostles continue to preach, the crowds continue to turn to Jesus, and the leaders of the Israelites (especially those of the Sadducees who deny the resurrection) continue to rage against Christ’s followers. The section ahead of covers to unique firsts in the life of the church, including the first installation of deacons and the testimony of Stephen, the church’s first recorded ...
Feb 13, 2025•28 min•Season 7Ep. 28
The book of Acts is an account of the beginnings of God’s church written down by Luke; yes, the same Luke who wrote the gospel of Luke. Christianity has always been marked by life together with other believers. Here in these opening chapters we see how the church began, how it spread throughout God’s people, and continued on to redeem those who were outside God’s covenant with Israel. The signs and wonders performed by the apostles proved to the world that although the followers of Jesus were or...
Feb 12, 2025•28 min•Season 7Ep. 27
Have you ever talked to someone who’s really into their work, and they’re so excited about it that it seems they just can’t stop talking about it? Maybe you’ve done that with your own work, with a hobby you enjoy, or with player stats from your favorite team. To our ears it may seem like the book of Exodus is simply repeating itself, but in actuality it’s communicating the excitement, the gravity, and the importance of the tabernacle. God Himself gave instruction to build it, God’s covenant peop...
Feb 11, 2025•29 min•Season 7Ep. 26
In our last episode, Israel had turned away from the Lord while Moses was with the Lord on Mount Sinai. Even though they had just committed themselves to following the Lord God, they quickly lost their resolve and turned to Aaron, who in turn gave them a golden calf to worship. After this grave sin, God tells Moses He will no longer go with Israel to the land He had promised Abraham and his descendants after him. Today, Moses intercedes on their behalf, assuaging God’s anger and garnering his fa...
Feb 10, 2025•29 min•Season 7Ep. 25
By the end of our reading Moses will have spent 40 days on Mt. Sinai, and in that amount of time, the Israelites will have given up on Moses and on the Lord. Not long beforehand, the nation of Israel had promised that they would do all that the Lord had commanded, but in short order, they turn away from God. They instead turn to Aaron, who caves to the crowd’s demands, making them a golden calf for them to worship. The Lord’s anger burns against Israel, but Moses steps in as a redeemer for his p...
Feb 07, 2025•33 min•Season 7Ep. 24
Some episodes are going to be action-packed and some are going to sound like you’re reading an instruction book, and this episode may tend toward the latter of the two. It’s important to remember, however, that the tabernacle is the place where the God of the universe, perfect in all His ways, matchless in power and authority, would meet with His people in a unique way. If it were up to you to build that, wouldn’t you want detailed instructions? Right worship is important to God, and these detai...
Feb 06, 2025•28 min•Season 7Ep. 23
On today’s episode God begins to give very specific commands to the Israelite people on what it looks like to be fair, kind, and gracious to one another. The Lord’s justice is severe for those who are selfish and outright rebellious, but gracious toward those who have no intention of causing harm. As you listen, it can be tempting to think that these are dry or irrelevant, but put yourself in the shoes/sandals of the original audience, whose livelihood wasn’t based on cash or money, but on lives...
Feb 05, 2025•27 min•Season 7Ep. 22
As the nation of Israel begins their journey into the wilderness, they find themselves without food and water, but rather than turn to the Lord, they complain to Moses. The Lord graciously provides for his people despite their grumbling, giving them, not only food and water, but a moral code by which they might live; this Decalogue, more commonly known as the Ten Commandments, allowed Israel to know how they could live a life that pleased the Lord. After witnessing the plagues on Egypt, the colu...
Feb 04, 2025•29 min•Season 7Ep. 21
Pharoah finally releases Israel from Egypt, but not before the Lord devastates the people of Egypt with a final plague that kills the firstborn of every family. The lord distinguishes between Israel and Egypt once again by giving them a new to be passed down from generation to generation as a testament to the power of God. By covering their doorways with the blood of a prescribed sacrifice, the people of Israel indicate that they are covered by the blood of another and the Lord passes over them....
Feb 03, 2025•31 min•Season 7Ep. 20
Today we begin to examine the ten plagues sent upon Egypt that testify to the power of the great I AM. It has been suggested that each plague is designed to show pharaoh, and all of Egypt along with him, that their gods are no match for the God of Israel, systematically robbing them of any power they claimed to have. When Pharaoh refuses to let Israel go into the wilderness to worship the Lord, God sends plagues of blood, frogs, gnats, boils, and darkness, but the king of Egypt will not back dow...
Jan 31, 2025•32 min•Season 7Ep. 19
This is the beginning of the book of Exodus, a pivotal story in the history of Israel. Throughout Scripture, Israel is often reminded that God is the one who led His people out of bondage and out of Egypt; it’s a way to point to His power, His kindness, and His covenant faithfulness to fulfill His promises. We meet Moses, the lowly Hebrew who is rescued from destruction, raised in pharaoh’s house, grows up only to kill another man, and flee town. When given instructions from the Lord, He cowers ...
Jan 30, 2025•29 min•Season 7Ep. 18
We’re covering the last three chapters of Mark today, which includes Mark’s account of the crucifixion of Jesus. In our text, Jesus institutes the Lord’s Supper, Judas betrays the Lord, Peter denies any relationship with Jesus, the chief priests and scribes hold court and convict Jesus of blasphemy, and send him to Pilate to be crucified. You’ll notice that Jesus references Psalm 22 before he breathes his last, signifying not only his agony, but the fulfillment of that particular psalm, which we...
Jan 29, 2025•30 min•Season 7Ep. 17
The path of Jesus leads to Jerusalem, where many rightly assume that this teacher is the long awaited Son of David. However, they wrongly assume that Jesus will ascend to an earthly throne and subdue Israel’s earthly enemies. The kingdom that Jesus will bring about, however, is one that extends beyond geographical bounds and instead lays claim to the hearts of the faithful. The chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees all take aim at Jesus with the intention of trapping Jesus in His words, but they...
Jan 28, 2025•23 min•Season 7Ep. 16
While the disciples display great faith and devotion, they often don’t comprehend the extent of Christ’s power or his ability to provide all that they need. As a means of commenting on their clouded perception of reality, Jesus takes heals a blind man partially before fully opening his eyes (much like the disciples who did not fully comprehend, but whose eyes would later be opened to the truth). Jesus begins to make his way toward Jerusalem, and as he does so, he warns his disciples that he will...
Jan 27, 2025•30 min•Season 7Ep. 15
The crowds continue to seek after Jesus as His miraculous healings and exorcisms gain notoriety across the land. It’s clear that His power and authority over nature, over sickness, and over demons are a surprising and puzzling sight for those encounter these miracles. They incite fear in those who understand the gravity of His power and they spark hope in those who see His compassion. His teaching comes across as strange, yet authoritative, and His wisdom is unparalleled. The religious leaders g...
Jan 24, 2025•31 min•Season 7Ep. 14
The gospel of Mark is one of the three synoptic gospels, “Synoptic” basically means “seeing the same thing,” the other two of which are Matthew and Luke. Historical evidence from early church fathers affirms that the apostle Peter is the one who passed these reports on to his attendant and writer, John Mark. Mark’s gospel is the shortest, but the most action-packed, as he includes a number of accounts and moves quickly from one scene to the next. connecting his stories with phrases like “immedia...
Jan 23, 2025•28 min•Season 7Ep. 13
The life of Jacob, who is now known as Israel, comes to close as he takes his last breath in Egypt. This is the same Jacob who deceived his father Isaac in order to receive the blessing of the firstborn. Not only does he bless Joseph’s sons, he elevates them and makes them a part of his family’s inheritance. He continues on with words of prophecy and blessing for the men who would be the representative heads of the twelve tribes of Israel. After Jacob takes his final breath, Joseph’s brothers fe...
Jan 22, 2025•27 min•Season 7Ep. 12
On our last episode we saw how the Lord orchestrated Joseph’s life to save the lives of many in the face of a coming famine. When his brothers show up to ask for food, they don’t recognize Joseph, but Joseph recognizes them. He declares them to be spies, and after a series questions, he sends them away and demands that they bring their younger brother back to Egypt to see if they are telling the truth. When their father, Jacob, who is also called Israel, finds out what is required he refuses to ...
Jan 21, 2025•30 min•Season 7Ep. 11
When Joseph is sold into slavery it seems that he has lost it all, except that Joseph has not lost what is most important: he hasn’t lost God’s divine and unmerited favor. Through Joseph, God divinely orchestrates the salvation of His people, sustaining the entire country of Egypt as well as the surrounding nations during a period of severe drought. His circumstances seem devastating in the short term, but once God’s plan becomes clear, the Scriptures say that Joseph forgets his former trouble. ...
Jan 17, 2025•28 min•Season 7Ep. 10
As we get to know the sons of Jacob, you’ll start to realize that the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree. Having learned the art of deception from their father, they use it to their own advantage time and again. For example, they are rightly enraged after their sister is defiled by the local chief’s son, but they use their anger as an excuse to deceive, then slaughter an entire city. Later, God officially gives Jacob the name of Israel, and directs his family to relocate to Bethel. There w...
Jan 16, 2025•28 min•Season 7Ep. 9
Jacob and his father-in-law Laban simply don’t get along, and let’s be honest, it’s not because they are morally upstanding people with a difference of opinions, it’s because they both practice deception to their own advantage. The daughters of Laban aren’t too dissimilar, and their pettiness is made apparent in today’s text. As a means of trying to gain flocks for himself, Jacob practices strange husbandry, proving not only that he has no idea how breeding works, but that it is by the grace of ...
Jan 15, 2025•30 min•Season 7Ep. 8
Today, Jacob the deceiver lives up to his name. With the help of his mother Rebekah, he goes to great lengths to disguise himself from his blind and aging father, tricking him into thinking that he is older brother Esau so that he might receive his father’s blessing. Jacob and Rebekah come up with a way to trick Isaac yet again, and Isaac sends Jacob to another country to get a wife for himself, thereby escaping the wrath of Esau. Later, Jacob gets a taste of his own medicine when Laban tricks h...
Jan 14, 2025•29 min•Season 7Ep. 7
