The Naked Bible Podcast

This episode welcomes Fern and Audrey back to the podcast. Fern and Audrey minister to trauma survivors, particularly those whose trauma resulted in dissociation (see Episode 68). The conversation in this episode includes Alexa, a client of Fern and Audrey’s Discovering Mercy ministry, and allows listeners to understand their ministry from a survivor’s perspective. Fern & Audrey are no longer associated with Discovering Mercy. Fern & Audrey are still helping survivors. You can contact them at info@fernandaudrey.org

Dr. Heiser answers your questions.

Revelation 4-5, the Divine Council, and the Covenant Lawsuit Motif: A Discussion with Dr. Alan Bandy Revelation 4-5 with its vision of God’s throne room and the 24 elders has long fascinated Bible students. While the heavenly throne is obvious to the scene, the actual setting often escapes attention. In accord with various divine council scenes in the Old Testament, the throne room of God is also where God holds council. Many OT council meetings are judicial in nature. A trial is held to assess loyalty to God’s covenants. That trial either leads to God’s vindication of the defendant or the dispensing of judgment for the guilty. In this episode we have a conversation with Dr. Alan Bandy who argued in his dissertation that Revelation 4-5 was a divine council scene informed by the covenant lawsuit motif of the Old Testament. Even further, Dr. Bandy believes that the book of Revelation as a whole is informed by the covenant lawsuit idea so that Christians and the whole world stand trial before God’s heavenly council with Jesus as the presiding judge.

Numbers 29:12-34 describes the sacrifices involved in the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles, called in Hebrew, the Feast of Sukkot (“Booths”). Included in those sacrifices were 70 bulls, a number that far exceeds any other Israelites festival. Scholars have taken note of the number and speculated that it has some relationship to the number of the sons of God allotted to the nations in the judgment at Babel (Deut 32:8-9; cp. Genesis 10’s 70 nations). Some believe the passage is a vestige of polytheism (the bulls are offered to the gods of the nations) or that it describes an atonement ritual for the 70 nations of Genesis 10. In this episode of the podcast we examine these opinions and offer another interpretation, one that sees a connection to the Deuteronomy 32 worldview, but that focuses more on the meaning of the Feast of Sukkot. Links: Dr. Noga Ayali-Darshan: Sukkot’s Seventy Bulls: The Torah’s adaptation of a polytheistic ancient West-Semitic custom of sacrificing to seventy gods The Meaning of Sukkot The Seventy Bulls Sacrificed at Sukkot (Num 29:12-34) in Light of a Ritual Text from Emar (Emar 6, 373), VT 65 (2015)

Biblical scholar David Burnett joins the podcast to discuss the enigmatic 'two swords' passage of Luke 22:35-38. They explore different interpretations and the controversy around this text. They also delve into Luke's perspective, the cosmic confrontation between Satan and Jesus, the non-violent approach of the Messiah, and the disciples' denial of Jesus. The hosts express appreciation for the guest and discuss intertextuality and swords.

On this episode of the podcast we once again devote time to acquainting listeners with strategies and tools for more productive Bible study. Dr. Heiser talks to Dr. Steve Runge, a colleague at Logos Bible Software and an important name in the study of Greek grammar. Dr. Runge’s focus is discourse, a linguistic term for studying the biblical text above the word level. If you don’t know Greek, don’t fear! Dr. Runge’s methods apply to English as well—and he has been instrumental in creating tools for English-only Bible students that are firmly grounded in original language study. Listen and learn how to become a better student of the biblical text. The videos below feature Dr. Runge teaching some of the concepts we discuss and work through in this episode. You already know discourse grammar but didn’t realize it (several videos) Logos Bible Software datasets for the Greek New Testament (the dataset adds symbols to your English reverse interlinear) Dr. Runge’s commentaries for English readers that derive from his grammar study

Dr. Heiser answers your questions.

Dr. Heiser answers your questions about the book of Hebrews.

Dr. Heiser answers your questions about the book of Hebrews.

Our 200th episode celebrates the reach of the podcast and that of Dr. Heiser’s books, The Unseen Realm and Supernatural. The Naked Bible Podcast has dedicated listeners all over the world. Many found the podcast because of Dr. Heiser’s books. This episode celebrates both the impact of solid, biblical content in the lives of listeners and readers, and their effort to spread that content to others. Mike and Trey talk to folks doing ministry in the Middle East (Michael, Bell), Tanzania, Africa (Charles, Donald), and Tirana, Albania (David, Bruna, and Fitor).