Recently Dr. Heiser reached out to his audience asking whether pastors who follow the podcast had tried teaching the content of his book, The Unseen Realm, to their congregations. The response was amazing, with close to 150 responses. The interest in sharing the experience of teaching the meta-narrative of Scripture to congregations stimulated the idea to have guest pastors and teachers on the podcast to tell us their stories. This episode is the first of a series in that regard. Join us as we listen to four pastors of diverse denominations and congregations talk about the impact of teaching biblical theology in its original context to their people.

Divorce and Remarriage in the New Testament with David Instone-Brewer

This episode follows the previous discussion on divorce and remarriage and the Old Testament with Dr. David Instone-Brewer. Divorce and remarriage are obviously sensitive and difficult subjects. Not surprisingly, the Bible has something to say about both. In this episode we chat with Dr. Instone-Brewer about what how the New Testament handles Old Testament teaching about divorce and remarriage. Specifically, the discussion focuses on the response of Jesus to his Jewish rivals on the question of divorce and Paul’s subsequent teaching in 1 Corinthians 7. Dr. Instone-Brewer is also a pastor, and so the episode includes pastoral advice to the divorced and remarried.

Links:

Dr. Instone-Brewer’s website on divorce and remarriage

Dr. Instone-Brewer’s website for online Bible Study

On this episode of the podcast we talk to Dr. Jamie Aten, founder and executive director of Wheaton’s Humanitarian Disaster Institute, and Kent Annan, Director of Humanitarian & Disaster Leadership. Dr. Aten is a disaster psychologist, author, and speaker, and Professor Annan sustains the M.A. in Humanitarian & Disaster Leadership at Wheaton.

Together our two guests have produced a very helpful manual for helping churches and other ministries respond to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Join the conversation as they share insights for church preparedness and ministry during this time of upheaval.

Resources:

Divorce and Remarriage in the Old Testament with David Instone-Brewer

Divorce and remarriage are obviously sensitive and difficult subjects. Not surprisingly, the Bible has something to say about both. In this episode we chat with Dr. David Instone-Brewer about what the Old Testament teaches about divorce and remarriage, situating the biblical text in its ancient Near Eastern and ancient Jewish contexts. The discussion includes Deut 24:1-4, a major biblical text on the issue, as well as God’s tumultuous relationship with Israel, often depicted by analogy to both marriage and divorce.

Links:

Dr. Instone-Brewer’s website on divorce and remarriage

Dr. Instone-Brewer’s website for online Bible Study

Dr. Heiser answers your questions.

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Dr. Heiser answers your questions.

Dr. Heiser answers your questions.

Dr. Heiser answers your questions.

Exodus 35-40 is highly repetitive with the content of Exodus 25-31. However, the order of the material presented is quite different. This episode explores how scholars have thought about the similarities and differences. Scholars have discovered literary patterns and theological messaging in comparing and contrasting these sections of Exodus. This episode reminds us to consider the intentionality of repetition and other patterns on the part of the writers / editors so that we don’t fall prey to the temptation to judge their work incorrectly.

Exodus 33:12-23 constitute the famous passage where Moses’ asks to see the Glory of God. In return, he receives a deflective answer and yet experiences God in human form on Mount Sinai. After having delved into this passage in the previous episode of the podcast, this episode returns to this passage and carries the content into Exodus 34. These chapters give us insight into how the anthropomorphized Yahweh links to the Angel of the Presence (Exod 23:20-23) who accompanied Israel into the Promised Land.