A story so timeless, it could have been taken from today’s headlines. This grand account of love, greed, jealousy, hope, manipulation, and faith is pulled from the pages of biblical history—yet this is fresh, new, and never before published. The Sons of Isaac is the capstone work of a master of biblical fiction, Roberta Kells Dorr. When God tells Rebekah that she will bear Isaac twin sons and the older will serve the younger, Isaac is skeptical. But that revelation will forever mark the lives of his family. The sweeping landscape of this saga ends much as it began and will influence the generations to come.
The twentieth century should be remembered in missions as the time when women got lost. Over that time, the voices of women missionaries, leaders, and facilitators of new Christian movements were all too often excluded from missiological discourse and strategic mission discussion. It is hoped that this book signals a revival in the contribution of women to mission in a way that values what they have to offer.
No nation has been subjected to a wider range of biblical attitudes and emotions than Edom. In some sources, Edom is perceived as Israel’s brother; in many others, the animosity toward Edom is tremendous. The book of Genesis introduces Isaac, his wife Rebecca, and their twin sons, Esau and Jacob. Rivalry between the brothers emerges even before their birth and escalates over the course of their lives. The question of which son should be favored also causes tension in the parents’ relationship, and most of the Genesis text concerning Isaac and Rebecca revolves around this issue. The narrative describes the fraternal conflict between Jacob and Esau at length, and many hold that this description is a reflection of the hostility between Edom and Israel. However, the relationship between the brothers is not always depicted as strained. The twofold relationship between the brothers in Genesis—brotherhood and fraternity coupled with hatred and rivalry—introduces a dichotomy that is retained throughout the Hebrew Bible. In this monograph, Assis elucidates the complex relationship between Edom and Israel reflected in the Bible, to attempt to clarify the source of this complexity and the function that this relationship serves in the various biblical texts and Israel’s early history. He shows how this relationship plays an important role in the formation of Israel’s identity, and how the historical interaction between the nations influenced the people’s theological conception, as reflected in prophetic literature, poetry, and biblical narrative.
The Arab Spring, the continuing Israel - Palestine conflict... why does the Middle East dominate the news headlines so often? One obvious answer is oil, the lifeblood of our modern world. The crucial importance of oil alone ensures that the Middle East will remain in the headlines for years. The Middle East is also the birthplace of the world's three great monotheistic religions—Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It has also been the battlefield for each religion—trying to control the territory they consider holy. Nowhere are these conflicts more obvious than in Israel, and specifically in Jerusalem. Whether you understand it or not, events in the Middle East are destined to affect the lives of every person on earth! Bible prophecy gives us the clues to understand what will happen. This ebook, "The Middle East in Bible Prophecy", will help you better understand the troubled history of the Middle East—and its tumultuous future. Chapters in this ebook: -- Introduction: Worlds in Turmoil -- The Middle East: Worlds in Collision -- The Sons of Abraham -- The Rise and Fall of Ancient Israel -- The Four Empires of Daniel's Prophecies -- The Coming of Islam -- The Jews: From the Dispersion to the Modern Israeli State -- The Creation of the Modern Middle East -- A Rising Tide of Arab Nationalism -- Fundamentalist Islam Resurges -- Anger Mounts Following Gulf War -- Not Enemies Forever -- "Why Do People Hate Us So Much?" -- War and Peace in the Middle East -- What Is the "Abomination of Desolation"? -- Prophecy of an Arab Confederation -- What Should You Do? Inside this Bible Study Aid ebook: "It’s impossible to understand the present Middle East without a knowledge of the three great religions that emanate from the area—Judaism, Christianity and Islam. These three faiths all trace their spiritual roots back to the same individual, Abraham." "However, conflict between Christians and Muslims has been a constant theme of history for 14 centuries." "Many other factors have contributed to the rise of Islamic fundamentalism and subsequent terrorism, including the Israeli-Palestinian problem and the domination of American culture." "After so much death and destruction, and centuries of war and unrest in the Middle East, imagine what a difference the second coming of Jesus Christ will make."
The NIV is the world's best-selling modern translation, with over 150 million copies in print since its first full publication in 1978. This highly accurate and smooth-reading version of the Bible in modern English has the largest library of printed and electronic support material of any modern translation.
Highly regarded Old Testament scholar John Goldingay offers a substantive and useful commentary on the book of Genesis that is both critically engaged and sensitive to the theological contributions of the text. This volume, the first in a new series on the Pentateuch, complements the successful Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Wisdom and Psalms series (series volumes have sold over 55,000 copies). Each series volume will cover one book of the Pentateuch, addressing important issues and problems that flow from the text and exploring the contemporary relevance of the Pentateuch. The series editor is Bill T. Arnold, the Paul S. Amos Professor of Old Testament Interpretation at Asbury Theological Seminary.
When religion meets comedy, it can get very interesting. So you thought the Bible was all about Jesus but then you tried to read it and found it full of genealogies and repetitions and wars and you could not get past Leviticus? What? You don't know who Leviticus was? That's alright. If you can't read the Bible cover to cover, you're a very normal person. And if you can't reconcile Sunday school with the real Bible, then you should read this book. The Bible is a combination of many things: *the product of thousands of years of folklore. *a bitter frustration with the Jewish captivity in Babylon and an attempt to make sense of it. *an ancient way of recording history (which is to say, not a history). *some beautiful poems. *some humorous tales. It is the last point that the author focuses on. There is humor in the stories of the Bible. Some or most of it is unintentional, but it is amazing what hindsight can do. This book condenses the narrative in a shocking or congenial way, depending on your point of view.
Abraham's divine and mythic destiny is to be the father of not just one but two great peoples: the Hebrews and the Arabs. His son Ishmael was born to an Egyptian princess who was a captive slave in his household, at a point in the patriarch's life when he despaired of having any children by his wife Sarah. But then the three mysterious messengers of Yahweh appear and tell him that Sarah, in her old age, will conceive a son. Ishmael and his mother, Hagar, are sent into the desert by Sarah, jealous of her husband's affection for his first-born son. And so the trouble begins.... This work of fiction follows the familiar story lines in the Hebrew Bible (Christian Old Testament) but presents individual persons on a human scale in order to explore the thorny, complex and delicate relations between these brothers, who live in a place where time and eternity touch. A new God is coming into being here: Yahweh, the uncanny, irascible, mischievous, bargaining God who participates in the life of a new people and compels them to a new way of being human.
From two leading Christian apologists, here is a fascinating survey of the most important Old and New Testament archaeological discoveries through the ages. Biblical archaeology has always stirred excitement among believers and curiosity among unbelievers. The evidence dug up with a spade can speak volumes—and serve as a powerful testimony of the reliability of Scripture. Norm Geisler and Joe Holden have put together an impressive array of finds that confirm the biblical peoples and events of ages past. In a user-friendly format written in popular style, they... examine the latest finds and explain their significance include more than 150 photographs provide an instructive chart of artifacts (along with fast facts) sample a variety of finds—papyri, inscriptions, scrolls, ossuaries, and more If readers are looking for just one book to cover this topic both concisely and comprehensively, this is it!
