A Virgin Shall Be With Child?

What is the Prophecy of Isaiah 7? Recently during an episode of American Pickers, I found each commercial break was occupied by advertisement for a show presenting the “truth” about Jesus’ birth.  The commercial claimed that the Virgin Birth of Jesus was the result of a mistranslation of the Bible.  I am not concerned that […]

Rabbi of the Reformation

After centuries of confiscating and burning copies of the Mishnah and Talmud, Christians had not only lost the ability to read and understand the language of the Tanakh (the Old Testament) , they also lost the trust of the Jewish people who might have taught them Hebrew. After driving God’s Chosen people from their countries […]

Female Foundations of the Apostolic Ministry

The definition we have of “Apostle” is “one who was with us from the beginning” who will “bear witness to His resurrection”. (Acts 1:21-23) Since “Apostle” carries the idea of “one who is sent” there is an idea of being commissioned (Matthew 28:18-20) This are qualifications that Paul recognized himself unqualified to fill. Mary Magdalene, […]

Junia Among the Apostles

The motive for historically changing Junia’s name to a male but weird “Junias” was because certainly this person was an Apostle. Now that there is scholarly concensus that Junias was a woman we suddenly have a problem determining whether she was an a apostle based on what is meant by “among”

Mark 12 Is the Vineyard Parable a Rejection of Israel?

Two or three times in as many years, I have had conversations about Jesus’ parable in Mark 12 of the vine growers.  The argument posited to me ran like this, “Doesn’t this parable prove that in Messiah, God was taking His Kingdom from Israel and giving it to the gentiles?  Look at what Jesus says, […]

The Torah as a Guide in the Two Current Crises

In the midst of a global pandemic and during the week that started the trial of the man who killed George Floyd, one might well ask, “how are some ancient laws from the Bible relevant and aren’t other things more pressing?”  Well, yes and no.  Had we been mindful of the thoughts we have raised […]

Pride, Prejudice and Deuteronomy- Women and Land Inheritance in the Old Testament

On my drive to work this morning I conducted a small thought experiment (while keeping my mind carefully on the road).  I took the scenario of Pride and Prejudice and placed it in the realm of Deuteronomic Law and then I took the case of the daughters of Zelophehad and placed it in the legal […]

The Cost of Mis-Reading Part II Is a Woman “Defiled” by Marriage?

The Case of Divorce, Remarriage, Divorce and Returning to the First Husband Deuteronomy 24:1-4 Deuteronomy 24 since it is often used as the definitive case regarding divorce.  Ironically, it is in the section regarding theft, and it is about a very particular circumstance: A man takes a wife and marries her.She finds no favor in […]

Pride and Prejudice and the Laws of Inheritance

It amazes me both how much Torah has shaped Western culture and how much misinterpretation of Torah has shaped Western culture. A recent reading of Jane Austen got me thinking about the fact that even in the last century English women could not inherit land, and the kind of desperation that caused. I don’t know […]