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Bible Studies

Go deeper into Scripture.

Historical context, theology, language and practical application.

Bible Study

October 3, 202613 min read

Zechariah 4:1–14

Small Beginnings, Steady Light

Zechariah’s vision of the lampstand and olive trees speaks to a returned community whose temple work looked fragile. The word to Zerubbabel grounds completion in the Spirit of the LORD without excusing idle hands.

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Here I Am, Three Times

Genesis 22 tells the reader it is a test before Abraham hears a word, and then tells almost nothing else. A study of the binding of Isaac, the mountain called Moriah, and a story that refuses to make Abraham either a hero or a monster.September 30, 202617 min read

The Word Athens Laughed At

Paul in Athens was a man waiting for his friends, provoked by what he saw, and courteous anyway. A study of Acts 17:16–34: the marketplace, the philosophers, an altar with no name, two borrowed lines of poetry, and the one word his audience would not accept.September 27, 202617 min read

The Question at the King's Gate

Esther 4 is the chapter everyone quotes and the chapter that never mentions God. A study of Mordecai's sackcloth, the law about the inner court, Persian Susa as far as we can know it, and a famous line that was never meant to be a slogan.September 24, 202617 min read

The Mercy Jonah Could Not Forgive

Jonah finally explains why he ran, and his reason is a line of praise. A study of Jonah 4, the Assyria he had every reason to fear, and a book that ends by handing God's question to the reader.September 21, 202616 min read

Onesimus in the Room

Paul's shortest letter was addressed to a whole church and was most likely read aloud with the enslaved man it concerned standing there. That changes almost everything about how it works.September 18, 202616 min read

The Easier Thing to Say

Four men dig through a roof in Capernaum to reach a healer, and the first thing Jesus gives the man they carry is something nobody in the room can see.September 15, 202616 min read

Seventeen Shekels Under Siege

With Babylon's army at the walls and the prophet under arrest, God tells Jeremiah to buy a field. The chapter records the paperwork in unusual detail, because the paperwork is the message.September 12, 202616 min read

Thirsty at the Sixth Hour

Jesus asks a Samaritan woman for water before he offers her anything. A close reading of John 4, with the road, the well, the mountain and the woman's story checked against what the text actually says.September 9, 202615 min read

A Name at the Gate

Boaz settles Ruth's future at the town gate, before ten elders and a relative who had every right to go first. The relative says no, and the narrator quietly declines to give his name.September 6, 202616 min read

Keep the Ember Alive

Some fires do not disappear because the fuel is gone. They disappear because no one tends what is still burning.September 3, 20265 min read

The Stairway in the Night

Jacob went to sleep with a stone near his head and woke up realizing that the place he considered ordinary had become a place of encounter.August 28, 20264 min read