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In this book Zephaniah stands courageously and delivers a brutal message to the people: nothing will protect them from the day of God’s judgment. In this account, Dr. Bill Creasy of Logos Bible Study opens the text and explores the stark, dreadful dark side of God’s love.

In Isaiah Part 3, the tone changes completely. Chapters 40 – 66 comprise some of the best poetry in the Bible, and the theme of that poetry is grace. Here we learn that after the Babylonian Captivity, God will redeem his people, bringing them back into fellowship with him to the place where they belong. And that return foreshadows an even greater redemption, not just for Israel, but also for all of humanity.

In Leviticus, God tells his people to “be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy” (Leviticus 19: 2). Leviticus is a handbook of holiness. Here God prescribes the five great sacrifices that enable a sinful people to be brought into fellowship with a holy God: 1) the burnt offering; 2) the grain offering; 3) the peace offering; 4) the sin offering; and 5) the guilt offering. Four of these five are animal sacrifices.

When Cyrus the Great king of Persia allows the Jews to return home and rebuild Jerusalem, only 42,360 do (Ezra 2: 64), about 10% of the population. The rest stay behind in Assyria, Babylon and Persia. After all, it had been nearly 200 years since the Northern kingdom had been taken captive into Assyria and almost 70 years since the Southern kingdom had been taken captive to Babylon. The Jews had built homes, started businesses and settled into their new lives.

Left to our own devices, humanity is incapable of resolving the issue of sin. God must do it for us, and here he introduces his plan.

In 1 Kings 4: 32, we read that Solomon’s songs “numbered a thousand and five”: The Song of Songs is #1 on the Hit Parade. A frankly erotic love poem, the Song of Songs speaks of fiery romantic love and crushing loss. As an allegory, it may also speak of God’s love for Israel and of Christ’s love for the Church.

Jesus resurrection is the single most important event in human history. In last week’s lesson, we followed Jesus through his death, burial and resurrection; this week we shall delve deeply into the resurrection, understanding it’s full impact on both Jesus...and on us.

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.

Moving from Genesis to Exodus, 400 years flash by and the Israelites grow from a family of 73 to a nation of 2 million; and they move from freedom into slavery. We shouldn’t be surprised. Half a millennium earlier, in Genesis 15: 13, God had told Abraham: “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.” Why would God allow this happen?

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.

Seventy-three of the 150 psalms are traditionally ascribed to David. As we read the "Davidic Psalms," we see deeply into David's heart as he struggles with God, with others and with himself. These psalms are deeply moving and often, brutally honest.

After staging on the Plains of Jericho, the Israelites cross the Jordan River and attack Jericho. It is springtime; the Jordan River is at flood stage; the Israelites approach a heavily fortified city across five miles of open territory; and they attack a city on a plateau, moving up hill. How in the world do the Israelites accomplish this daunting task?

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!

At the end of Judges (c. 1000-1050 B.C.) we read: “In those days Israel had no king, and everyone did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21: 25). It was a time of moral, political and economic chaos. As we move into 1 Samuel, things get worse. Although Samuel strives mightily to bring the Israelites back to God, the priesthood and the people continue their downward spiral.

Jacob and his wives produce twelve sons, the founders of the twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob’s eleventh son, Joseph, is his favorite, yet none of the twelve tribes is named after him! This is Joseph’s story.

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.

Totally exhausted and spent, God assigns Elijah three more tasks to accomplish to complete his job: 1) on the international stage, “anoint Hazael king over Aram [Syria]”; 2) on the domestic stage, “anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel”; and 3) on the personal front, “anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet” (1 Kings 19: 15-16). Meanwhile, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah (869-848 B.C.), arranges a tentative peace between Israel and Judah.

With the death of Solomon, his son Rehoboam, ascends the throne. All twelve tribes gather at Shechem to anoint him king—but they demand two concessions: 1) lower the taxes and 2) end conscripted labor. Rehoboam refuses, triggering a civil war. In 930 B.C., the united monarchy splits, ten of the twelve tribes forming the northern kingdom of Israel, with its capital in Samaria, and two of the twelve tribes forming the southern kingdom of Judah, with its capital in Jerusalem.

Saul of Tarsus was one of the most brilliant young men of his generation. He was being groomed for leadership in the Jewish community, and he was destined for greatness. With the birth of the Church and its rapid growth, Saul saw the threat posed by this emerging, radical sect of Judaism, and he took it upon himself to lead a fierce persecution against it.

The Babylonians lay siege to Jerusalem in 588 B.C., and the city falls on August 14, 586 B.C. The siege of a fortified city is a dreadful thing to behold. Food and supplies quickly run out: Starvation, sickness and death follow. Jeremiah is inside Jerusalem during the 2-year siege, and Lamentations is his eyewitness account.