For a first century Jew, to follow a rabbi meant to "be covered with the dust of his feet." When Jesus called His disciples, it was implied that they would begin this process of becoming like Him by following closely in His footsteps. Tr... MORE
The exodus from Egypt was a metaphor for God's greater redemption story, the restoration of shalom from the chaos of the evil one. His purpose was to invite Israel into a greater story than the one of their bondage, eventually unveiling a plan of ... MORE
When the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt, the Promised Land awaited them, but first God led them into the desert. The time they spent there would not only get them out of Egypt geographically, but would also remove its influence from thei... MORE
When the tabernacle was established among the Israelites, God came and lived among His people. Its design, construction, and function revealed much of His character, which proved to be completely unlike that of any gods the people had ever known. ... MORE
At times, God chose to use the harsh reality of life in the desert near the Promised Land as a practical teaching tool to mold and shape His people. The Essenes went willingly into this wasteland to allow Him to do just that: to teach them His wor... MORE
In the Bible, the desert is an image of great hardship and suffering, signifying the impossibility of survival without access to basic resources. God often led His people through desert places, using the barrenness of the land as opportunities to ... MORE
When the Israelites left Egypt and began their journey with God to the Promised Land, how much did they know of their past history? Some, like Moses' parents, seemed to have retained a knowledge and faith in the God of their fathers, but the Bible... MORE
Jesus left heaven to be born in a filthy shepherd’s stable, as if to say, “I’ll leave heaven to enter the brokenness of your world.” Much of His teaching ministry, though, took place in a very different sort ... MORE
The people of the Bible lived in temple-building cultures. Temples provided pagan gods with a place to live, keeping them close to the people who worshiped them. Even Israel did the same – first Solomon, then Nehemiah and Zerubbabel, and eve... MORE
Most of Jesus' ministry was spent in Jewish communities, proclaiming the good news of God's kingdom to the people of Israel. His greater intention, though, was for His Jewish followers to bring this message to the Gentile world around them, a worl... MORE
After meeting Jesus on the Damascus Road, Paul dedicated the rest of his life to sharing the gospel with anyone and everyone. He soon became one of the major leaders in the early church, focusing much of his effort on reaching out to the Gentiles.... MORE
Palace of a Great KingTHE ASSYRIAN EMPIREAssyria, located in Mesopotamia near the Euphrates River, was one of the great empires of the ancient world. Its history parallels much of the Old Testament. Known for their ruthlessness in battle and horri...
The cultivation and harvesting of olives was essential to Galilee's first-century economy. A community olive processing installation included an olive crusher, which cracked the olives in order to produce an initial flow of oil, and an olive press...
The olive tree is one of the plants most frequently mentioned in the Bible. Scripture writers used olive tree imagery to describe Jesus' Jewish roots and the relationship of Jews and Gentiles.When an olive tree gets very old (often hundreds of yea...
The olive tree is known for its beauty (Hosea 14:6) partially because its large ancient trunk often has the look of a productive past. Furthermore, one side of the tree's leaves are light green and the other, a much lighter green, give the leaves ...
This bowl contains both ripe and unripe olives. The green olives, pickled or salted, are an important part of the daily diet. The black ones may be salted or pickled for eating; or more likely, they may be crushed and pressed for oil.
Certainly not all people who lived in this fertile area were religious or even Jewish. But it is clear that most inhabitants of the sea's northwestern side were very religious;a fact supported by the many synagogues discovered there.Jesus conducte...
The Passover
For the Jewish people, Passover was more than a religious observance. It was the time of year when they celebrated liberation from Egyptian bondage.During Jesus' time, they also used this opportunity to express their longing for polit...
The Negev Wilderness of Israel and the eastern areas along the Rift Valley are terraced with a myriad of paths. Some of the paths on the hillsides have an occasional connecting diagonal track to other paths. These tracks were created by wild anima...
There are many compelling similarities between the expressions of God's presence on Mount Sinai and his presence among the disciples during Pentecost.
- On Mount Sinai, God's presence was accompanied by fire, smoke, and the sound of thunder (Ex. 1...
God's covenant with Abraham demonstrated the promise of God. He declared his commitment to the Israelites by walking the bloodpath to make a covenant with Abraham and his descendants.The table of the Ten Commandments sealed the relationship betwee...
This cultured seafaring group from the Aegean moved into Israel at about the same time as the Israelites. They lived on the fertile coastal plain, had advanced iron technology, and worshiped many gods through extremely immoral religious practices,...
Country along the Mediterranean Sea to the north of Israel. The people worshiped Baal in the same fertility cults as did the Canaanites. Jezebel came from here.'
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