Exegetical Study of Amos 9:1-15 [The Destruction and Restoration of Israel]

Prophet Amos, old Russian Orthodox icon

Amos 9:1-15 (NRSV) Note: All quoted passages in paper will be from the NASB 1a I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said: 1b Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake, and shatter them on the heads of all the people; 1c and those who are left I will kill with the … Read more

Understanding Bible Codes and Ciphers

Bible Codes, also known as Equidistant Letter Sequences (ELS), are words and phrases that can be found in the text of the Jewish Bible (the Christian Old Testament) by taking letters that are separated by an arbitrarily defined distance from each other within the Hebrew text. This notion of Bible Codes has been popularized by … Read more

What Did Jesus Mean When He Said “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven”?

Thunderstorm at night

On it’s face, Jesus words, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” seems to be referencing the fall of Satan. However, it’s more complex than one might imagine. For starters, the verses in the Bible that most people believe are about Satan, have nothing to do with him. Secondly, Jesus was not referring to … Read more

What is the Letter Of Aristeas?

Letter of Aristeas, Epistula ad Philocratem)

The Letter Of Aristeas was a 2nd century (BCE) letter written to the Greek ruler Philocrates, who was Aristeas’ brother. The letter details how “Demetrius of Phalerum, the president of the king’s library” requested to have the writings of the Jews translated into Greek to store in the Alexandrian library. One of the oldest known copy … Read more

What is the Septuagint or LXX?

Hebrew & Greek Maniscript

The Septuagint, also known as LXX, is a Greek translation of the Old Testament. In some places, it acts even as an interpretive tool, such as the shortening of Job by 1/6th of it’s size in the Masoretic Text (MT) and a number of passages that appear differently in the Greek than in the Hebrew … Read more

Are Faith Seed Offerings Biblical?

Mike Murdock Faith Seed

No doubt, most viewers of religious programming have seen a mega pastor or televangelist encourage a viewer or church member to donate a specific sum of money. The general idea is that the person should step out in faith and “plant” a faith seed….typically to that particular church or pastor. For reference here are a … Read more