Christians should not adopt Torah observance as a religious duty or as a way of pleasing God. The ceremonial requirements of the Mosaic covenant have been fulfilled in Christ, so believers are not obligated to keep Israel’s food laws, feast days, or other covenant markers. Galatians warns against treating such observances as spiritually meritorious or …
Begin by interpreting an Old Testament passage in its original context. Israel remains distinct in God’s covenant plan, so promises or commands addressed to the nation should not be transferred directly to the church. Jeremiah 29, for example, promised Israel restoration after exile and ultimately belongs within God’s future for that nation. Christians may still …
Old Testament believers were saved through repentance and faith in God, on the basis of what Christ would later accomplish. Like believers today, they needed their sins forgiven and a perfect righteousness they did not possess. Neither their works nor animal sacrifices could provide that righteousness or fully pay the penalty for human sin. Jesus …
The phrase “sons of God” can refer to angelic beings in the Old Testament and to God’s redeemed people in the New Testament. Genesis 6 is debated because an ancient interpretation identifies its sons of God as fallen angels who took human form and produced offspring with the daughters of men. Pastor Mike does not …
No. Rahab in Joshua is the personal name of the woman in Jericho who protected Israel’s spies. The similar English spelling in Job, Psalms, and Isaiah can represent different Hebrew terms or poetic uses rather than the same person. In passages such as Job 26 and Psalm 89, Rahab is imagery for chaos and the …
Job responded admirably at first, blessing God after devastating loss. Beginning in chapter 3, however, his suffering led him to curse the day of his birth and increasingly demand an opportunity to put God on trial and establish his own innocence. Job’s friends wrongly assumed that his suffering proved secret wickedness, but Job also went …
The Holy Spirit did indwell people in the Old Testament. Scripture can describe the Spirit as being “in” particular individuals, including craftsmen whom God equipped for the work of the tabernacle. That indwelling was not identical to the New Covenant ministry every Christian receives. New Testament believers are permanently indwelt by the Spirit as God’s …
Envy is the more precise word for Joseph’s brothers. Jealousy can describe guarding something that properly belongs to you, while envy resents another person’s advantage and desires what he possesses. Joseph’s brothers begrudged the favor he received from Jacob and the future prominence represented in his dreams. Genesis does not need to use one particular …
Antiochus Epiphanes did fulfill Daniel 11 in an initial, historical sense. In the second century B.C., he desecrated the temple and brought the events described in Daniel 11:29–32 to pass. His actions became the setting for the Maccabean revolt and the temple’s rededication. That fulfillment was also a foreshadowing. Jesus spoke of the abomination of …
Genesis does not identify the forbidden fruit as an apple. The important fact is that God prohibited it and both Adam and Eve knew the command. Genesis 3:6 says Eve gave the fruit to her husband “who was with her.” The most natural reading is that Adam was present when she ate, although the wording …
Zechariah 10–11 condemns Israel’s unfaithful shepherds and leaders as a group for failing to care for God’s flock. That wider context cautions against immediately identifying the wounded, worthless shepherd of Zechariah 11 with the Antichrist. The identification cannot be ruled out categorically, because much of Zechariah is prophetic and some connections will become clearer when …
Exodus 20:13 is best translated “You shall not murder,” not as an absolute prohibition of every act that causes death. The Hebrew word refers to the wrongful, malicious taking of human life rather than to killing in the broadest possible sense. The Mosaic Law itself distinguishes murder from other circumstances. It provides for civil execution …
Many biblical promises remain future even though every promise is “yes” in Christ. Christ has guaranteed them, but a promise can be certain—as good as accomplished—before it has occurred in history. The church still awaits Christ’s return and the place he promised to prepare in John 14. Acts 1 says he will return as he …
Scripture does not tell us how many days, weeks, months, or years passed between creation and the fall. We should not claim a precision the text does not provide. The fall was probably relatively soon, but “soon” still is not a measurable answer. The strongest boundary we can draw is that it occurred before Adam …
No. Romans 5, First Corinthians 15, and Genesis 3 present death as entering the created world through Adam and Eve’s sin. That includes biological death in the animal world as well as human death. The curse affected more than human mortality; it also reached the ground and the wider created order. A view that requires …
The most natural reading is that Genesis 1:2 describes actual water as part of the material creation before God said, “Let there be light.” The text presents an unformed earth with darkness over the deep and God’s Spirit hovering over the waters. Genesis sometimes uses recapitulation, and Genesis 1:1 functions as an establishing summary—God created …
The Old Testament distinguishes deliberate, high-handed rebellion from the sins and defilements addressed through Israel’s sacrificial system. The offerings did not provide a license for defiant apostasy; they taught worshipers about guilt, cleansing, gratitude, fellowship, and consecration. The burnt offering was consumed completely and pictured atonement and total dedication to God. The worshiper placed a …
Some Old Testament books do not identify their human author, even though they were recognized and preserved as Scripture. That does not undermine their authority or the care with which Israel received them. From Moses onward, God’s prophets were publicly recognized as his spokesmen. Their messages were often marked by “Thus says the Lord,” and …
Leviticus explains how God’s redeemed people were to live and worship before a holy God. Israel had already been delivered from slavery. The book then gave the nation its sacrifices, priesthood, purity laws, ceremonies, and appointed feasts. The sacrifices teach the principle of substitution. In Leviticus 1:4, the worshiper places a hand on the animal …