In the story of God making Himself known to His people, Passover is a foundational element. As the continuation of this redemptive process, the Lord's Supper finds its most profound meaning when taken in the context of Passover imagery. In this le... MORE
Of all the parables Jesus told, the one we call "The Prodigal Son" is possibly the most famous. In the story, a younger son demands his inheritance from his father and leaves the family behind, taking his riches to a far country. The imp... MORE
It was customary in the Roman world to consider the emperor a divine being. New emperors would claim this status because they believed that when the previous ruler died, he would ascend to heaven to be seated among the gods, making ... MORE
At one point during his ministry, the Apostle Paul was at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. He was accused by some Jews of bringing a Gentile into the courts where only Jews were allowed. He hadn’t, but they thought he did and a riot started. W... MORE
The Jews of Jesus’ day lived together as extended families, sharing the family resources. The task of the father was to use those resources to care for everyone who lived in “the father’s house,” as they called it – r... MORE
In ancient times, people craved words of counsel and knowledge from their gods. The city of Didyma in what is now modern-day Turkey functioned as one of three main oracles, places where ordinary people would travel to hear advice and predictions o... MORE
The covenant at Sinai is often thought of as a wedding between God and His people, between God and the bride He chose for Himself. This became the picture of God's redemptive plan for humankind, fully realized in Jesus' death and resurrection. In ... MORE
The Passover Sedar employs four symbolic cups to help the Jews remember the miraculous ways that God delivered His people from the hand of Pharaoh. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asked the Father to take away the cup placed before Him, a "... MORE
After their escape from the might of Egypt, the Israelites spent forty years wandering in the desert of Sinai. But were they really wandering? The Bible says that God led them like a flock, like sheep through the desert with a pillar of cloud by d... MORE
From Galilee to AsiaThe remains of the towns and villages of Galilee give evidence to the simple lifestyle of the Jewish people of the first century. Few were wealthy or poor. Most were hardworking people living comfortable lives as extended famil...
Gamla is often called the "Masada" of the north because of the siege and fall of the town to the Romans during the Jewish Revolts. The city was originally settled by a group of Jews returning from captivity around 150 BC.The city is loca...
The Zealots were part of a movement completely devoted to serving God. They believed it was impossible to serve the pagan Romans while also being faithful to the law of God. They resisted Rome and anyone who sided with the Roman rulers, often with...
Hades, originally the Greek god of the underworld, is the namesake for the place where departed spirits live. It was frequently used in the Bible as a synonym for hell or the grave (Psalm 9:17; 55:15; 116:3).As Jesus used it in Matthew 16:18, Hade...
City of PagansCaesarea Philippi, which stood in a lush area near the foot of Mount Hermon, was a city dominated by immoral activities and pagan worship.Caesarea Philippi stood only twenty-five miles from the religious communities of Galilee. But t...
A Picture of HellGehenna
A sewer channel commonly ran under the streets of ancient cities. It traveled through the city gate and emptied into a nearby valley. Though the channels were probably used to drain rainwater from the towns, people also us...
This olive press is in the Capernaum, Jesus' home-base (Matt. 4:13), near the synagogue. The crushed olive pulp was placed in baskets (about four inches thick and two feet in diameter), which were then stacked several high. These baskets are barel...
The word gethsemane is derived from two Hebrew words: gat, which means "a place for pressing oil (or wine)" and shemanim, which means "oils."During Jesus' time, heavy stone slabs were lowered onto olives that had already been c...
Aramic, meaning "camel," because from a distance this ridge in the Golan Heights (Gaulanitis) looks like a camel's hump. Located north and east of the Sea of Galilee. Home to nationalistic Pharisees (Zealots) who sought deliverance from ...
The word gethsemane is derived from two Hebrew words: gat, which means "a place for pressing oil (or wine)", and shemanim, which means "oils." During Jesus' time, heavy stone slabs were lowered onto olives that had already been...
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