One of the many interpretive challenges in Ecclesiastes revolves around the meaning of the closing poem in 12:1–7. Interpreters have often read the poem as an allegory of old age. There are a number of problems with this view, however, including inconsistency in the...
I’ve been teaching through the book of Hosea recently and have been struck by some fascinating parallels to modern American culture. Hosea prophesied in the northern kingdom of Israel around 755–710 B.C., during the final decades of its existence. The northern kingdom...
Despite many advances over the last century in archaeology and biblical backgrounds, together with a growing field of studies in biblical theology, consensus concerning ancient Israel’s perspective of the afterlife remains elusive. The view that conscious life...
In an earlier post I began to explore the notion of a “missionary mandate” for Israel in the Old Testament. In this and the next post I look at the background for this idea, namely, God’s concern for the nations in the OT. This post reflects the perspective of the...