Category Archives: Exile and Repentance

Of course, an element of all of this has to be social justice. Well … “social justice” isn’t really the best term and is likely more confusing than helpful. In the Law and the Prophets, the repeatedly stated reasons for the Exile … Continue reading →

“Exile and Repentance” seems rather an odd topic for a single blog post, much less a ridiculous 19 posts (so far). But I hope that the series has helped us all see scriptures in a new light. It’s not that … Continue reading →

Acts 5 We’ll move more quickly through the rest of Acts, just to show how this understanding of the scriptures makes better sense of the text than our usual reading. For example, when the Sanhedrin called the apostles in for … Continue reading →

Faith and repentance So Peter asked the devout crowd in Jerusalem to repent. They were good and religious Jews, but they had no faith in Jesus as Messiah — and to turn to God, they had to turn to Jesus. … Continue reading →

“Repent” (Act 2:38-39 ESV)  38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. … Continue reading →

Jesus is the Messiah (Act 2:22-28 ESV)  “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you … Continue reading →

Acts 1 So with all this in mind (and I know it’s a lot of material), let’s take a fresh run at the first part of Acts — and read as a Jew would have read Luke’s book. (Act 1:4-5 … Continue reading →

Idolatry? So this leads to a question I’ve been trying to get to — In what sense were the Jews of Jesus’ day idolaters? The curses of Deu 28 aren’t only for idolatry but they are especially for idolatry. Moreover, … Continue reading →

The Jewish revolts against Rome The consequences of the first Jewish revolt against Rome are summarized in the Wikipedia — The defeat of the Jewish revolt altered the Jewish diaspora, as many of the Jewish rebels were scattered or sold … Continue reading →

John the Baptist John the Baptist began preaching at the Jordan River — (Luk 3:7-10 ESV) He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from … Continue reading →