Mostrando resultados por narrador "Dr.Bill Creasy" en Todas las categorías

Joel may be the earliest of the writing prophets; if he is, then he introduces the term “the Day of the Lord” as a reference to a set of final, catastrophic events that will befall Israel—and indeed all humanity in the “end times.” Illustrating his message with reference to a dreadful locust plague that occurred in the past, we shudder as God makes clear that if Israel does not repent something much greater than a locust plague will occur.

When the kingship and the priesthood become corrupt, God often raises a great prophet to counter them. Ahab reigns over the northern kingdom of Israel (870-853 B.C.) and Asa over the southern kingdom of Judah (910-869 B.C.). Ahab “did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him. To counter such massive corruption and idolatry, God raises one of his greatest prophets, Elijah. His story begins here.

If Isaiah is the Thundering Prophet and Jeremiah is the Weeping Prophet, Ezekiel is the Weird Prophet! Ezekiel is taken captive to Babylon after its second attack on Jerusalem, 597 B.C. Ezekiel’s book is set in Babylon and it consists of thirteen separate “visions” that span twenty years. And they are very strange visions, indeed!

We continue our story of Paul as he begins his 2nd missionary journey, A.D. 50 – 52, leaving Syrian Antioch and making his way across Asia Minor, into Macedonia and finally arriving in Greece, where he spends 18 months at Corinth. Then it’s on to his third missionary journey to Ephesus, A.D. 54 – 57, and finally he is caught in a thicket of legal problems that take him to Rome and an audience before Caesar himself.

As we move through the Bible, we encounter both oral and writing prophets. Elijah and Elisha, for example, are oral prophets, neither one writes anything that we know of. We simply have their stories in 1 & 2 Kings, stories about what they said and did. Writing prophets, on the other hand, write books. Prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and the twelve Minor Prophets commit what they have to say to writing, sometimes in long books like Isaiah (66 chapters), and other times in short books like Obadiah (1 chapter).

When the Babylonian sacked Jerusalem in August of 586 B.C., the Edomites--descendants of Jacob's twin brother, Esau--looted the city. Obadiah is a 1-page book--the shortest book of prophecy in the Bible--that signals God's displeasure with Edom's actions. Join Logos Bible Study's Dr. Bill Creasy as he makes a stunning discovery about one of Esau's descendants who will appear in the New Testament!

A very short personal letter by John to “the lady chosen by God and her children”, 2 John may be addressed to a literal woman and her children, or perhaps to a specific church (the “lady”) and her members (her “children”). In either case, John emphasizes that love must be rooted in truth, a concept that we often ignore today. Amusingly, John ends his short epistle by saying: “I have much to write to you, but I don’t want to use paper and ink.” Instead, he says, I’ll be stopping by for visit soon!

Jewish Bibles classify Daniel among the “Writings,” not the “Prophets”; Christian Bibles elevate Daniel to the position of a major prophet. Daniel is taken captive to Babylon after its first attack on Jerusalem in 605 B.C. Daniel’s book is set in Babylon and spans the years 605 – 539 B.C.

Traditionally ascribed to Jude, a brother of both James and the Lord, mentioned in Matthew 13:58, Jude had wanted to write a rather thorough theological treatise, but present circumstances in the church compel him to address a different topic: what believers can do in days of apostasy. Written sometime in the late 80s or early 90s, this epistle offers very practical advice for those living in what appear to be the "end times".

Although their names sound alike, few men in the Bible are more different than Elijah and Elisha. Elijah loves a show; Elisha is shy. Elijah loves a grand exit; Elisha dies quietly, alone. Yet, in many ways, Elisha is an even greater prophet than Elijah. This is his story.

Every good story has a conflict, and our conflict enters the story here: Sin. In our class we define sin, not as an action that we commit, but as a condition we are in: “Sin is a condition of alienation and separation from God, that manifests itself in outward, sinful action.” And that condition has several inevitable consequences. We explore the nature of sin in this lecture.

What happens next is a delicious reversal! In the end the Jews not only survive, but they kill and plunder the Persians who attempt the holocaust; Haman is impaled naked on a pointy-pole; Esther becomes the heroine of her people; and Mordecai replaces Haman as Xerxes’ number-two man!

The Babylonian Captivity is catastrophic for the Jews. In Psalm 137 we read: “By the waters of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion” (Psalm 137: 1). And 1 Chronicles 9: 1 tells us: “The people of Judah were taken captive to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness.” Cyrus the Great king of Persia (559-530 B.C.—modern-day Iran) conquers Babylon by 540 B.C., and following his enlightened policies allows the people conquered by Assyria and Babylon to return to their homes and rebuild.

God then gives his people their second greatest gift: The Tabernacle, a portable structure by which a sinful people gains access to an infinitely holy God.

The Book of Job explores “why bad things happen to good people.” Job is indeed a righteous man, so why are terrible things happening to him? We find our answer in these chapters.

As Saul crumbles under the weight of kingship, a young man rises to take his place: David. As Jonathan Kirsch observes in King David: The Real Life of the Man Who Ruled Israel (New York: Ballantine Books, 2000), the story of David is “a work of genius that anticipates the romantic lyricism and tragic grandeur of Shakespeare, the political wile of Machiavelli, and the modern psychological insight of Freud." David is one of the greatest characters in world literature; he is also my favorite character in the Bible.

Drawing primarily on Luke and Matthew this session focuses on Jesus’ birth. John writes in his prologue: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... [and] the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1: 1, 14). This is the great miracle in the Bible: God Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, became man and lived among us.

The curtain goes up on our story as we view creation, both from God’s perspective and from man’s.

We’ve all heard the story of David and Bathsheba, but never like this: There is no great love affair between David and Bathsheba; adultery is not David’s great sin; and although God forgives David for what he does, there are far reaching consequences that shake the kingdom and bring David to his knees. This is one of the greatest stories in all of world literature, dazzling in its brilliance, stunning in its nuance and profound in its understanding of human nature.

Jonah knew that if he delivered God’s message to the Ninevites they would repent and God would save them; but he also knew that even if the Ninevites repented, they would backslide into their old ways. And that’s exactly what happens. The prophet Nahum makes clear what will happen to the capital of the Assyrian empire if they turn away from God.