Bible Study Lessons
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). I’ve always read that as a summary statement for the rest of Genesis 1. In that way, the book of Genesis opens with a concise statement of what God did in the beginning and then proceeds to fill in the details with the … Read more
I’ve been working through the Ten Commandments for my course on Exodus. The second commandment (according to the enumeration used by most Protestants)—the one about not making carved images and not bowing down to them—brings up the controversial topic of making images of God. Well, I should say it brings up the historical controversy of … Read more
Translation challenges occur throughout the Bible, but numbers in the Old Testament present us with a special challenge. In Exodus 12:37 the ESV says that Israel consisted of about 600,000 men. Since we’re not given the number of women and children, there’s no way to be certain about the total population. A popular guess gives … Read more
The story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac is disturbing. While Abraham didn’t go through with it, he almost did, and he did so out of obedience to God’s command. So how should we teach this difficult story in Genesis 22? Here are four things to keep in mind when teaching the story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac. … Read more
What do you do when you are faced with a Bible difficulty—something that seems like a discrepancy? Do you ignore it or wrestle with it? The Patriarchs and God’s Name: A Problem Have you noticed the problem in Exodus 6:3? God says to Moses, “I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God … Read more