The Jews have been persecuted for a long time by a lot of different people, ethnic groups, and nations. A lot of it could be attributed to just being in the wrong place at the wrong time, except for this Bible information: In

Deuteronomy 7:6 God is speaking, "For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession."

Ouch! If you are not Jewish that can hurt. But I'm joking. To explain why Jews are persecuted I dig into 16th century European Christianity and the myth of the 10 Lost Tribes of Israel and God's curses on the the Hebrew nation. European Christians thought the Indians of America were the 10 Lost Tribes. They took two views: 1. Pillage them, Rob Them, Kill them because as Jews they are under God's curse. 2. Evangelize them and therefore bring Jesus back to Earth for his Kingdom.

For details on this topic, see Lesson Fifty-seven (57) Why Jews are Persecuted. https://youtu.be/ukAqc9aJlyw

Where does the Bible say the devil came from and how did his opposition to God come to be? This episode discusses the history of the devil according to the literature of the Bible.

People who are not religious find it difficult to understand, but most of the great religions of the world are looking for a messiah, a great person (usually a man) who comes, saves the world from destruction, institutes their religion worldwide, and brings peace and (their kind of) morality to human beings. There are various ways individuals qualify as a messiah. Most have to do with performing some miraculous, supernatural act that validates their claim. The Bible provides verses that serve to qualify who can be the Jewish and Christian messiah. This episode discusses the qualifications for messiahship.

This podcast is part 3 of the discussion of metaphors in the literature of the Bible began in podcast BB-27 and BB-48. We look at how the Bible uses metaphor to help us understand our relationship to God. The biblical story is not a secret text meant to hide its meaning from you. Rather, the Bible is a literary (as well as sacred) text, meant to communicate to you something the author (the Holy Spirit) wants you to know. The episodes on metaphor, poetic, and symbolic language discuss the rules of interpretation used by the Bible Bard and others.

Today's podcast looks at what the Bible says about women. As those of you know who have listened to more than one Bible Bard podcast, our view is that the Bible is both literature and a holy book. It is a holy book when it reveals things about God we could not otherwise know, and it is literature when it tells stories and makes pronouncements about humanity. In our times there has been a rise of feminism has looked at social conditions that impact women. This episode discusses what the Bible teaches about women. It discusses the five women have the worst depiction of females in the Bible and 11 of the women in the Bible that are notorious for their virtue, their wonderful character, and noble actions.

The God of the Bible is described as a moral Beling. Of course, detractors like to suggest that the God of the Bible is a hypocrite, arbitary, self-serving, and inconsistent in his claimed moral and ethical nature. What the Bible Bard does in this podcast is examine the main moral claims about God given in the Bible, so listeners who do not read the Bible, can have a good idea of what the Bible actually teaches. (See podcasts BB-02, 04, 05, 06 for a detailed discussion of the textual source of God's divine attributes.) God's moral attributes are his intrinisic knowledge or feelings of what is right and wrong. This episode describes what the Bible teaches about God's moral feelings.

In today’s podcast we are interested in what the Bible teaches about the power of unbelief, mistrust, uncertainty or doubt, and skepticism. Unbelief as something active and not merely the absence of faith. This episode discusses the power of unbelief that lies in its movement from the mere lack of faith to the defiant, aggressive denial or physical opposition to the content of faith.

We can analyze the three great monothestic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam by their approach to their scriptures. Many people do not understand that each religion is divided by how their various denominations or sects approach to their sacred texts. This episode names and compares these divisions in denominational approaches to their own scriptures - sometimes to the point of actually nulifying what their scriptures actually teach! In the transcript of this episode you can review a table that lists approaches to Scripture and determine where what denomination you should join.

Various names for God are given in the literature of the Bible. The text provides both stories about people and transmits revelations about God in which his names are declared. This podcast provides the biblical texts that explain who God is in brief, unambigious sentences or paragraphs that are based upon his names. Download the transcript to see 20 names of God, where they are found in the text, and what they mean.

In the literature of the Bible the ancient Hebrews enter into a covenant (legal) relationship with God. The core of this agreement is called the Decalogue. It is these 10 commandments as described in Exodus 20:1-7 and Deut 5:1-22 that form the basis of the national relationship between the nation and God. This podcast episode provides a list of the episodes that cover the 4 commands about your relationship with God:

1. Apostasy Ex 20:3, Deut 5:7; Violation Exodus 32. (BB-58)

2. Idolatry Ex20:4, Deut 5:8; Violation Exodus 32. (BB-58)

3. Blasphemy Ex20:7, Deut 5:11; Violation Leviticus 24:10-16. (BB-59)

4. Sabbath Ex20:8, Deut 15:12; Violation Numbers 15:32-36. (BB-60)

And the 6 commands about your relationship with people:

5. Parents Ex20:12, Deut 5:16; Violation Deut 21:18-21. (BB-61)

6. Murder Ex20:13, Deut 5:17; Violation Judges 19-21. (BB-62)

7. Adultery Ex20:14, Deut 5:18; Violation 2 Sam 11-12. (BB-63)

8. Stealing Ex20:15, Deut 5:19; Violation Joshua 7. (BB-64)

9. FalseWitness Ex 20:16, Deut 5:20; Violation 1 Kings 21. (BB-65)

10. Coveting Ex20:17, Deut 5:21; earlier examples of basis of failure. (BB-66)

This series details what each requirement is and provides the story from the literature as how the ancient Hebrews violated each particular requirement. The series also discusses what these 10 commandments mean in the modern world.

Go to www.BibleBard.org to download a transcript, listen to another episode from the Archive, or get links to other materials and information.

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