Old Testament

"O that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes" (Psalm 119:5). The psalmist exposes the desire of their heart here.  It's not exactly a prayer, more of… — October 24, 2011

"You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently" (Psalm 119:4). Only 172 verses to go.   (I'm blogging one verse from Psalm 119 each Sunday.)  And you thought… — October 16, 2011

Richard Dawkins highlights the problematic texts of the Old Testament (e.g., the Canaanite genocide in Joshua; the smiting of Uzzah in 2 Samuel 6).  Atheists like Dawkins, after… — October 11, 2011

...who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways (Psalm 119:3). I shouldn't cut this sentence in half, but I've committed to only focus on one verse per… — October 9, 2011

One of the questions I get asked a lot about God Behaving Badly is why didn't I talk about this issue (e.g., homosexuality) or this passage (e.g., the… — October 5, 2011

Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart. The second verse in this longest psalm reiterates the idea of blessing from verse… — October 2, 2011

"Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD" (Psalm 119:1). So, I'm blessed as long as I can keep my way… — September 25, 2011

What inspires poetry?  Most often it is romantic love. The inspiration for the longest love song in Scripture is Scripture itself.  This particular song is also the longest prayer in the… — September 18, 2011

YHWH decided it was time to smash the Baal and slaughter the Bull.  He picked Gideon for the task (Judg. 6:25). Gideon's father, Joash had a Baal altar and before… — September 10, 2011

Does God command genocide? One of the most difficult questions that face people who believe that the Bible is the word of God is, "Why does God command his people… — September 2, 2011

To impress his guest, Gideon makes the angel cakes (presumably not angel food cake?) and goat stew(next time you have an important visitor, I dare you to prepare them a… — August 27, 2011

Last time we talked about how Gideon thought he was the least and the weakest (Judg. 6:15) so he was convinced that there was no way he could… — August 22, 2011

Gideon has been given the call to "Go, deliver Israel from Midian" but he's not too keen on the idea.  He responds with another question: "How can I… — August 20, 2011

In the last post in this series, Gideon asked the divine messenger why are the Midianites oppressing them and where are YHWH's wonderful acts of deliverance (Judg. 6:13).  (Gideon apparently… — August 14, 2011

In the last Gideon blog, I asked was the angel of YHWH ironic, descriptive or prophetic in calling Gideon "mighty".  Here we'll look at how Gideon responds with… — August 10, 2011

In the last Gideon post YHWH responded to Israel's cries for help from their Midianite oppressors not particularly compassionately, but by reviewing and rebuking (Judg. 6:7-10). Although, God's… — August 7, 2011

During the time of Gideon, YHWH gave the Israelites into the hands of the Midianites who brutally oppressed them.  As we can see from this life-like portrayal on… — August 5, 2011

While I was a student in Oxford, I wrote my masters thesis on Gideon ("'YHWH Will Rule over You' (Judges 8:23): The Theocratic Ideal as a Theme Unifying… — August 3, 2011