The Bible Distilled

In this episode, Jonathan and Caleb talk about child sacrifice?!?!  What is happening in this story of God commanding Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac.  There has to be something more here.  They also deal with what seems to be a tragic ending to Hagar, but how ultimately God has not abandoned here, but blesses her and reminds her of His unfailing love towards her and Ishmael.  They also talk about how weird the similarities are between the story of Hagar and the story of Abraham and Isaac.

Resources used:

Genesis: An Expositional Commentary, Vol. 2: Genesis 12-36 by Dr. James Montgomery Boice

Genesis 11:27-50:26: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture (The New American Commentary) by Kenneth Matthews

Sailhamer, John. The Pentateuch as Narrative: a Biblical-Theological Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1995.

https://knowing-faith.simplecast.com/episodes/106-the-birth-and-sacrifice-of-isaac

In this episode, Caleb and Ben talk about another challenging story of God's wrath on a city.  They talk about how Sodom ultimately was the representation of all human wickedness and evil concentrated in one city.  It's a pretty hopeless story, but there is a glimmering light of hope buried  in the end of this narrative!

Resources used:

Genesis: An Expositional Commentary, Vol. 2: Genesis 12-36 by Dr. James Montgomery Boice

Genesis 11:27-50:26: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture (The New American Commentary) by Kenneth Matthews

https://knowing-faith.simplecast.com/episodes/104-the-story-of-sodom

Sailhamer, John. The Pentateuch as Narrative: a Biblical-Theological Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1995.

In this episode, Caleb and Ben talk about God's unfailing love and commitment towards Abraham (he gets a name change!).  They also talk about this weird sign of the covenant and what that was to symbolize for Him, his family, and the nation of Israel, and ultimately the church of Jesus.

Resources Used:

Genesis: An Expositional Commentary, Vol. 2: Genesis 12-36 by Dr. James Montgomery Boice

Genesis 11:27-50:26: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture (The New American Commentary) by Kenneth Matthews

Sailhamer, John. The Pentateuch as Narrative: a Biblical-Theological Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1995.

https://knowing-faith.simplecast.com/episodes/103-abraham-hagar-and-the-child

In this episode, Caleb and Ben deal with a really hard story in Scripture: the story of Hagar.  They talk about how badly people are hurt when we choose to define for ourselves what is good and evil.  They also discuss God's overwhelming compassion and grace towards the marginalized and least of these.

Resources used:

Genesis: An Expositional Commentary, Vol. 2: Genesis 12-36 by Dr. James Montgomery Boice

Genesis 11:27-50:26: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture (The New American Commentary) by Kenneth Matthews

Sailhamer, John. The Pentateuch as Narrative: a Biblical-Theological Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1995.

https://knowing-faith.simplecast.com/episodes/103-abraham-hagar-and-the-child

In this episode, Jonathan and Caleb dig deep into the covenant God makes with Abraham, giving us a foreshadow for what He would do to save us through Christ.

Resources used:

Genesis: An Expositional Commentary, Vol. 2: Genesis 12-36 by Dr. James Montgomery Boice

Genesis 11:27-50:26: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture (The New American Commentary) by Kenneth Matthews

Sailhamer, John. The Pentateuch as Narrative: a Biblical-Theological Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1995.

https://knowing-faith.simplecast.com/episodes/102-abrahamic-covenant

In this episode, Jonathan and Caleb talk about this mysterious figure in Genesis 14: Melchizedek, and why he is important to the storyline of the Bible, and how he plays a role that emulates what our original purpose on earth was/ is.

Genesis: An Expositional Commentary, Vol. 2: Genesis 12-36 by Dr. James Montgomery Boice

Genesis 11:27-50:26: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture (The New American Commentary) by Kenneth Matthews

Richter, Sandra L. The Epic of Eden: a Christian Entry into the Old Testament. Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Academic, 2008.

Sailhamer, John. The Pentateuch as Narrative: a Biblical-Theological Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1995.

Bible Project "The Royal Priest" Podcast Series: https://bibleproject.com/podcast/series/the-royal-priest/

In this episode, Caleb and Jonathan talk about the beginning of Abram's narrative, and how messy it is.  They deal with the question, why did God decide to partner with this guy who is not righteous at all?

Genesis: An Expositional Commentary, Vol. 2: Genesis 12-36 by Dr. James Montgomery Boice

Genesis 11:27-50:26: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture (The New American Commentary) by Kenneth Matthews

Knowing Faith. https://knowing-faith.simplecast.com/episodes/100-family-drama

Sailhamer, John. The Pentateuch as Narrative: a Biblical-Theological Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1995.

In this episode, Ben and Caleb talk about the man God chooses to bless and partner with.  Through Abram, God would bring about a people who would come this promised seed/ rescuer from Genesis 3:15.

Resources used:

Genesis: An Expositional Commentary, Vol. 1: Genesis 1-11 by Dr. James Montgomery Boice

The New American Commentary: Genesis 1- 11:26 by Kenneth Matthews

Richter, Sandra L. The Epic of Eden: a Christian Entry into the Old Testament. Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Academic, 2008.

Sailhamer, John. The Pentateuch as Narrative: a Biblical-Theological Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1995.

Bible Project. Covenants.  https://bibleproject.com/learn/covenants/

Knowing Faith.  https://knowing-faith.simplecast.com/episodes/99-father-abraham

In this episode, Ben and Caleb recap where we are so far in the Biblical Narrative. They explore themes that have been developing, and talk about Genesis 1-11 within the scope of the greater meta narrative of the Bible. 

Resources used:

Genesis: An Expositional Commentary, Vol. 1: Genesis 1-11 by Dr. James Montgomery Boice

The New American Commentary: Genesis 1- 11:26 by Kenneth Matthews

Richter, Sandra L. The Epic of Eden: a Christian Entry into the Old Testament. Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Academic, 2008.

Sailhamer, John. The Pentateuch as Narrative: a Biblical-Theological Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1995.

In this episode, Caleb bores Ben with some buried treasure in a genealogy!  Just kidding, it's good stuff.  They also talk about the Tower of Babel, and how when humans try and be their own god, how God intervenes to ultimately save them from themselves.  

Genesis: An Expositional Commentary, Vol. 1: Genesis 1-11 by Dr. James Montgomery Boice

The New American Commentary: Genesis 1- 11:26 by Kenneth Matthews

Richter, Sandra L. The Epic of Eden: a Christian Entry into the Old Testament. Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Academic, 2008.

Sailhamer, John. The Pentateuch as Narrative: a Biblical-Theological Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1995.

Knowing Faith: https://knowing-faith.simplecast.com/episodes/94-a-really-tall-tower-babel

Bible Project: https://bibleproject.com/podcast/whats-so-bad-about-babel/