“Esau I Have Hated”
God’s declaration in Malachi 1:3, “I have hated Esau,” follows immediately on the heels of his declaration of love for Israel. What does it mean that God hated Esau? At least part of an answer to this question lies the way in which God’s hatred of Esau/Edom was expressed. In a nutshell, they were not his chosen people and therefore God would not allow them to become prosperous or dominant. Malachi expressed this in two ways. The first was that God had given them a second-rate land as their inheritance; the second......
Was Daniel a Eunuch?
It is suggested from time to time that Daniel and his friends may have served as eunuchs in the court of Nebuchadnezzar. This idea is illustrated, for example, in the 14th century illuminated manuscript shown above, which depicts the Hebrew captives being castrated. Where does this idea come from, and how reliable is it? The best case to be made for supposing that Daniel was a eunuch hangs on an implication and the translation of a Hebrew word. If you read the KJV (or ESV), you will find 7 references in Daniel......
Name of Another Biblical Figure Identified
It’s always exciting to hear of the discovery of another name in an archaeological setting that also appears in the Bible. In this case, it is a bullah that bears the name of Nathan-melek. The archaeological context and the writing style place the bullah at about 600 BC, give or take 25 years or so. A man by this very name, and in this place at this time, is known from the Bible. “And Josiah did away with the horses which the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the......
Samuel and the Tabernacle
The tabernacle was a portable structure that had every sign of being a temporary structure. Constructed as a semi-permanent tent, it had walls made of wooden panels set in metal sockets. The whole was covered with several layers of material (linen, woven goat hair, and leather). The tabernacle was surrounded by posts, between which were hung linen curtains. The entire structure could be taken apart for transportation, and it was moved with the Israelites during their wanderings in the wilderness. When the land was initially subdued, Joshua and the Israelites met at......
Life and Times of Daniel
As we start out a new Sunday School series on the book of Daniel it may be helpful to see Daniel in the midst of the events that were going on in his day. Daniel was born when the ruthless Assyrian empire still ruled the north. Egypt was still an independent nation to the south, and would remain independent until conquered by the Persian king Cambyses in 525 BC. We don’t know when Daniel was born, but perhaps it was around 620 BC. We do know that he was deported as a......
