Showing results by author "James King" in All Categories

After the return of the exiled Jews from Babylon to Jerusalem, prophets Zechariah and Haggai motivated the people to rebuild the temple. The people asked Zechariah when the temple would be rebuilt. Zechariah turns to the people and tells them to be true to their covenant with God, do good deeds, and not be like their ancestors; the people agree. Zechariah then has a series of 8 dreams. These visions translate to God fulfilling His promise by establishing His kingdom in Jerusalem that will be pure.

The Book of Micah is a series of warnings to the people of Israel on God's behalf. At the beginning of the book, he addresses them that they have garnered wealth and power through theft and greed. He goes on to say that even their leaders and prophets were offering God’s protection to the people if they could afford to pay them. He relates how God has withdrawn His protection. Further in the book, he expands upon the accusations by saying that the Israelites favor the wealthy, bend the laws after collecting bribes, and steal the land of poor people.

The Book of Daniel is a series of stories and visions. It is divided into three sections. It begins with an overview followed by stories about Daniel and his three friends who belong to the royal family of David. After being captured by the Babylonians, they are chosen to serve in their royal court, where they are instructed to adapt to their culture and food. They refuse to violate God’s law and are ordered to be burned alive in a furnace. The fire does not kill them.

In the Book of Hosea, God talks to the Israelites through the Prophet Hosea. He was married to a woman named Gomer, who was unfaithful to him, and they had children together. Despite her infidelity, God tells Hosea to get her back. He obeys God. It also tells of God's relationship with Israel where God is like a faithful husband. The book tells about the favors that God bestowed upon Israel and how they broke their covenant with Him. But despite that, God was faithful to them because He is loving and compassionate.

The Book of Joel narrates the story of the Prophet Joel. The book starts with him telling the people that a locust invasion has wreaked havoc on the land. He asked the priests and people to ask forgiveness from God and prayed. He then goes on to describe a day in the future when the locusts will attack again. This time, he describes the locusts in a way that seems like God will send them as He would his army. He again tells the people to ask for forgiveness.

The Book of Amos is a collection of sermons, poems, and calling Israel's wealthy to propagate justice and compassion among the poor. The poor were being marginalized, sold into debt slavery, and the justice system did not protect them. He warned the corrupt against God's judgment. Then God says that He chose Israel amongst everyone else and that He will punish them for their transgressions. Amos addresses these individuals and says that they go to the temples to pray and offer sacrifice, but it is all a sham for they neglect the poor and deny them justice.

In this audio compilation of the Book of Jeremiah, the narrator tells the story of the prophet Jeremiah. These chapters of the Bible are broken into biographical, prose, and poetic strands - and have a heavy focus on the events leading up to the fall of Jerusalem during a forty-year period. Here we focus on Jeremiah as the prophet who, from his young age to his grown years, delivers the word of God to the people of Israel at the most volatile and troubling times of their lives.

In this audio compilation of the Book of Lamentations, the narrator offers a collection of poetic laments of the Destruction of Jerusalem. Here, we focus on how the collection is partly a traditional "city lament" mourning the desertion of the city by God, its destruction, and the ultimate return of the divinity, and partly a funeral dirge in which the bereaved bewails and addresses the dead.

While it is not known when or where exactly The Book of Chronicles was written, it is speculated that it was written around 537 BC. The second Book of Chronicles details the reign of King Solomon, who was the son of King David. He ruled over Jerusalem as a just and prosperous king. Solomon built the temple as instructed by his father. After a 40-year rule, King Solomon died and thus began the reign of his son, Rehoboam. During the rule of King Rehoboam, the key tribes of Jews in Jerusalem rebelled against him, resulting in the division of the kingdom, except the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.

It is not known who wrote the Book of Nehemiah. However, it is written in the first-person narrative style, which seems to suggest that at least parts of the book were written by Nehemiah himself. Nehemiah was a cupbearer for King Artaxerxes of Persia. On a particular day, he broke down before the king and mentioned how Jerusalem had been destroyed. The king ordered him to go back and build the walls around the city. He was also given supplies and an armed escort. As Nehemiah began to build the walls with his team, there was fierce opposition from the countries surrounding Jerusalem.

While we do not know when the Book of Esther written, or who wrote it, the events that unfold in it suggest that it was written approximately 100 years after the exile of Jews from Jerusalem. In this Book, there is no mention of God, and it is believed that that is done because the author wanted to make God present and active through His work. Around 484 BC, King Ahasuerus ordered a 180-day celebration as a show of his wealth and power. On the last day of the celebration, he ordered his wife, Queen Vashti, to appear and demonstrate her beauty, but she refused.

We do not know when the Book of Ezra was written or by whom. Parts of it were written in the first-person narrative. Also, it was written in both Hebrew and Aramaic (the language used by Persians). It narrates the story of the return of exiled Jews from Babylon back to Jerusalem ordered by King Cyrus, under the leadership of Zerubbabel, who is appointed governor. Upon his return, he builds an altar and starts to build a temple. His team’s efforts are cut short as the descendants of the Jews who were not exiled to Babylon lodge a complaint with King Cyrus

The Book of Isaiah was written by Isaiah (the son of Amoz), who served as prophet between 740 - 701 BC. This was a critical period in the history of Israel when corruption was rampant. The Jews were breaking God’s covenant and engaging in idolatry. Isaiah mentions Israel as falling to corruption. He says that there is hope for the people of Israel if they repent and mend their ways. In his dream, Isaiah saw God, who told him to preach to the people to remember and obey Him. He foretells of the fall of Israel and the exile of the Jews if they persist in their corrupt ways.

It is not known who wrote the Book of Job or when it was written. It is written poetically and is considered wisdom literature. The book starts with a dialogue between God and Satan. God first brings up Job and how noble and pious he is, then Satan contends that it is so because of the wealth and comfort which God has bestowed upon him. God allows Satan to inflict suffering upon Job. As a consequence, Job loses all his wealth, his children die, and he contracts disease.

The Apostle Paul is one of the prominent authors of the New Testament, with 13 of its 27 chapters being letters written by him to churches throughout the world. These letters are foundational to many Christian denominations, as they are instructional for how groups of Christians ought to believe and behave. In addition to being instructional, the letters of Paul are a fascinating look at the ethics and ideals of early organized Christian religious sects.

In the Bible, the prophetic are books written by people chosen by God to deliver messages from him about his people, the future, and the events that he would allow to happen throughout eternity. These prophetic books are important for many reasons. These books give a good understanding of what God’s people were thinking about and focusing on throughout major events of history, while also giving context to the New Testament, and giving the writers of the New Testament prophecies through which to analyze events throughout the life of Jesus.

The Book of Ruth‎, Megilath Ruth, "the Scroll of Ruth" is included in the third division, or the Writings, of the Hebrew Bible; in most Christian canons it is treated as a history book and placed between Judges and Samuel. The book tells of Ruth accepting the god of the Israelites as her god and the Israelite people as her own. In Ruth 1:16 -17, Ruth tells Naomi, her Israelite mother-in-law, "Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried.

The Book of Numbers is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah. The book has a long and complex history, but its final form is probably due to a Priestly redaction of a Yahwistic source made some time in the early Persian period (5th century BCE). The name of the book comes from the two censuses taken of the Israelites.

The Book of Judges is the seventh book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. In the narrative of the Hebrew Bible, it covers the time between the conquest described in the Book of Joshua and the establishment of a kingdom in the Books of Samuel, during which Biblical judges served as temporary leaders. The stories follow a consistent pattern: the people are unfaithful to Yahweh and he therefore delivers them into the hands of their enemies; the people repent and entreat Yahweh for mercy.

The Book of Leviticus s the third book of the Torah and of the Old Testament; scholars generally agree that it developed over a long period of time, reaching its present form during the Persian Period between 538-332 BCE. Most of its chapters consist of God's speeches to Moses, which God commands Moses to repeat to the Israelites.