God Parted the Red Sea. So, What Does That Mean for Me?
Which movie does the best job portraying the panic of seeing Pharaoh’s chariots closing in before God parted the Red Sea? Let’s do a multiple choice: The Ten Commandments, starring Charlton Heston as Moses Prince of Egypt, starring Val Kilmer as Moses Exodus: Gods and Kings, starring Christian Bale as Moses Good question. But if we’re […]
Who Was Zipporah in the Bible?
Zipporah lived approximately 1500 years before Christ and she was the wife of Moses. She acted decisively in a crucial moment to protect her family, and she helped her husband fulfill his obligation to God. After four hundred years in Egypt, the Israelites cried out for God to rescue them from slavery, and God raised […]
Summary of Exodus: Understanding the Basics of Exodus in the Bible
Let’s start our summary of Exodus with a look at the title of the book. The Hebrew title for the book of Exodus is Shemoth (“names”), coming from the very first line of the book which says, “These are the names. . .”. The title of the book in the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation […]
What We Learn from Two Hebrew Midwives
When I think of people who show and live out their allegiance to God in the Bible, I immediately think of Shiphrah and Puah. They are better known as the Hebrew Midwives who saved Israelite baby boys at a time when opposing rulers called them to be killed. These midwives could have done the easy […]
Wait on the Lord: An Invitation to Unwasted Time
Let me share with you a truth I learned by the time I was a toddler: the people of God wait. A lot. My dad’s a preacher. There were quite a few years as I was growing up that he would preach at two different churches on Sunday. Different churches, same sermon. And we kids […]
Overview of the Old Testament
The Old Testament begins with God creating a very good world. “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good” (Genesis 1:31a, NIV). Yet something happened after He created His highest creation: humans. God is good, and He created only good things. Yet He gave humans something good that we misused. It is […]
What Is the Pentateuch: A Short Intro to the Bible’s First Five Books
What is the Pentateuch in the Bible? The first five books of the Bible, often referred to as the “law of Moses,” are also referred to as the “Torah” or the “Pentateuch.” “Torah” is a Hebrew word that means “instruction” or “law.” So when it’s used to refer to the first five books of the […]
When I Am Weak, Then I Am Strong: Reflections on Moses, Jeremiah, Paul, and Charlie Brown
If you’ve ever read the comic strip Peanuts by Charles Schulz or watched Peanuts movies, you probably understand that the famous main character, Charlie Brown, struggles with feelings of inadequacy and other anxieties. To give you a picture, Charlie Brown fails in nearly everything he does, seems to encounter bad luck everywhere he goes, and […]
