Simple Gifts

Simple Gifts is the gift of time and freedom. It is the simple presentation of the written word spoken without commentary. Join us in ruminating on great stories, poems, history, philosophy, theology, art and science. Amidst chaos, find the “valley of love and delight,” a true simplicity, where “to bow and to bend we will not be ashamed,” where we can ponder the greatest words ever written, turning them over and over, “till by turning, turning, we come round right.” If you enjoy our content, consider donating through PayPal via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist

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Episodes

ISAIAH, Chapter 30

Monday Aug 25, 2025

Monday Aug 25, 2025

“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be eaten by the sword;
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
 
Isaiah 1:18–20 (ESV)
 
If you want to know that "the LORD He is God! the LORD, He is God!" (1 Kings 18:39) your search for confirmation finds its best resolution in the book of Isaiah. I would argue that Isaiah, more even than Elisha, "wore the prophetic mantle" of Elijah. Only John the Baptist was a greater merely human incarnation of the role of prophet (Matthew 11:11).
Isaiah 42:9 tells us: "Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
Below find two articles that discuss fulfilled Old Testament prophecies. By any objective measure, only God could do this.
As with other books of the Bible, we suggest this brief overview of Isaiah. May your listening to this great OT prophet be as blessed by God as was our reading of it!
 
https://youtu.be/d0A6Uchb1F8?si=Nhsvg2DCZgWRZq_7
 
Check out these two articles on calculations of the probability of one first-century man, Jesus, fulfilling so many OT prophecies!
https://nickcady.org/2020/02/18/the-statistical-probability-of-jesus-fulfilling-the-messianic-prophecies/
https://firmisrael.org/learn/how-many-messianic-prophecies-did-jesus-fulfill/#:~:text=After%20all%2C%20Jesus%20(Yeshua%20in,that%20related%20to%20the%20Messiah!

EZEKIEL, Chapter 42

Friday Aug 22, 2025

Friday Aug 22, 2025

In keeping with our intensive study of Israel's history this year, Jenny and I have concentrated our attention on the Exilic and Post-exilic prophets. We've included Jeremiah in this list, even though he spans the immediate pre-exilic period, leading up to the Babylonian exile.
The most enigmatic exilic prophet, most certainly, is Ezekiel. His name means "God's strength." We encourage our listeners to struggle with Ezekiel's difficulty, as we believe God has a great deal of undiscovered meaning in this text. Some of the most exciting references, for me, are those to his contemporary prophet-in-exile, Daniel (Ezekiel 14:14, 20 and 28:3).
He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

THE BOOK OF JOB, Chapter 38

Thursday Aug 21, 2025

Thursday Aug 21, 2025

The book of Job is wisdom literature, like Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs.
What can we add to what has already been written on the Book of Job?
Is it the oldest book in the canon as its historical milieu would place it, or was it written (down) much later?
Is it merely a literary story meant to illuminate the relation between God and man-in-the-created-order, or is it historical?
We are not so foolish as to claim that we know any of these answers, or how God has in fact put His word together, but we have learned not to put the plausible stories of man in the place of what He says in His word. We will never go far wrong if we simply trust what God says, being careful readers of scripture.
What we do know is that Job is a masterpiece of literature by any metric, and one of (if not) THE greatest works of wisdom literature ever crafted. I cannot help but end with a quote from another such brilliant work:
Ecclesiastes 7:23–29
All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out?
I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness.... Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things — which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found.... See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. (ESV)
Ecclesiastes 12:10–13
The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.
The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. (ESV)

MICAH, Chapter 2

Wednesday Aug 20, 2025

Wednesday Aug 20, 2025

Do not my words do good to him who walks uprightly?
Micah 2:7
 
One of my favorite books of the Bible, highlighting the character of our God - faithful in steadfast love, but holy and righteous in His judgment. He predicted a time when prophets, like himself, would vanish from Israel, but boldly proclaimed God's message in his day:
Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without divination. The sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be black over them; the seers shall be disgraced, and the diviners put to shame; they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God.
 
But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the LORD, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin.
 
Micah 3:6–8
Micah was a contemporary of Amos, Hosea; and Isaiah, and he accurately predicted the fall of Israel to Assyria and Judah to Babylon in judgment for their wicked abuse of power and oppression of the poor. His indictment is scathing:
Hear, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know justice?— you who hate the good and love the evil
Micah 3:1–2
It is no mistake that in the book of Micah God is looking out for the humble, lowly and poor who are being mistreated by the powerful and corrupt, as the birthplace of the Messiah is here announced as that humble little agrarian town of Bethlehem, the House of Bread ... the bread that comes down from heaven, who also was used and abused by the powerful.
 
Micah's predictions of the Lord Jesus, like those of Isaiah, are stunning!
... with a rod they strike the judge of Israel on the cheek.
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.
 
This helpful summary of Micah, we pray, will help in your study of this wonderful book in God's word.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFEUEcylwLc

JEREMIAH, Chapter 43

Tuesday Aug 19, 2025

Tuesday Aug 19, 2025

The prophetic books of Jeremiah, Daniel and Ezekiel mark a radical change in the life of God's people, Israel. Starting with Jeremiah, the Babylonian exile is predicted, and then experienced. Daniel is taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar during Jeremiah's ministry, and after the 586 BC fall of Jerusalem, Ezekiel is called by God to minister to Israel in exile. Indeed, these prophets were aware of each others' ministries, and God's voice in them. Twice Ezekiel refers to Daniel (14:14 and 28:3), and Daniel mentions Jeremiah's prophecies (Daniel 9) as a source of his own prophetic ministry.
Reading Jeremiah should be a learning experience par excellence, as getting clear on all its details and references - seeking to understand the discoveries of biblical archaeology that relate to it, and all the history of Israel, including the two kingdoms, their kings and their successes and failures, their faithfulness and their apostasy - sets one up to understand both the whole progression of scripture from Genesis to Revelation, and God's plan of salvation set in place "before the foundation of the world."
Listen and read with a mind open to God's voice. Search the scriptures to answer the questions you encounter, search the archaeology to display the truth of God's word verified, search the language to understand better the nuances of God's meaning. Read/listen carefully, reverently and inquisitively, and God will show you amazing things!
You have HIS promise on that!
We suggest, as usual, starting here:
https://youtu.be/RSK36cHbrk0?si=KaJSPPn7n6z7x_Pl

ISAIAH, Chapter 29

Monday Aug 18, 2025

Monday Aug 18, 2025

“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be eaten by the sword;
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
 
Isaiah 1:18–20 (ESV)
 
If you want to know that "the LORD He is God! the LORD, He is God!" (1 Kings 18:39) your search for confirmation finds its best resolution in the book of Isaiah. I would argue that Isaiah, more even than Elisha, "wore the prophetic mantle" of Elijah. Only John the Baptist was a greater merely human incarnation of the role of prophet (Matthew 11:11).
Isaiah 42:9 tells us: "Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
Below find two articles that discuss fulfilled Old Testament prophecies. By any objective measure, only God could do this.
As with other books of the Bible, we suggest this brief overview of Isaiah. May your listening to this great OT prophet be as blessed by God as was our reading of it!
 
https://youtu.be/d0A6Uchb1F8?si=Nhsvg2DCZgWRZq_7
 
Check out these two articles on calculations of the probability of one first-century man, Jesus, fulfilling so many OT prophecies!
https://nickcady.org/2020/02/18/the-statistical-probability-of-jesus-fulfilling-the-messianic-prophecies/
https://firmisrael.org/learn/how-many-messianic-prophecies-did-jesus-fulfill/#:~:text=After%20all%2C%20Jesus%20(Yeshua%20in,that%20related%20to%20the%20Messiah!

EZEKIEL, Chapter 41

Friday Aug 15, 2025

Friday Aug 15, 2025

In keeping with our intensive study of Israel's history this year, Jenny and I have concentrated our attention on the Exilic and Post-exilic prophets. We've included Jeremiah in this list, even though he spans the immediate pre-exilic period, leading up to the Babylonian exile.
The most enigmatic exilic prophet, most certainly, is Ezekiel. His name means "God's strength." We encourage our listeners to struggle with Ezekiel's difficulty, as we believe God has a great deal of undiscovered meaning in this text. Some of the most exciting references, for me, are those to his contemporary prophet-in-exile, Daniel (Ezekiel 14:14, 20 and 28:3).
He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

THE BOOK OF JOB, Chapter 37

Thursday Aug 14, 2025

Thursday Aug 14, 2025

The book of Job is wisdom literature, like Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs.
What can we add to what has already been written on the Book of Job?
Is it the oldest book in the canon as its historical milieu would place it, or was it written (down) much later?
Is it merely a literary story meant to illuminate the relation between God and man-in-the-created-order, or is it historical?
We are not so foolish as to claim that we know any of these answers, or how God has in fact put His word together, but we have learned not to put the plausible stories of man in the place of what He says in His word. We will never go far wrong if we simply trust what God says, being careful readers of scripture.
What we do know is that Job is a masterpiece of literature by any metric, and one of (if not) THE greatest works of wisdom literature ever crafted. I cannot help but end with a quote from another such brilliant work:
Ecclesiastes 7:23–29
All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out?
I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness.... Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things — which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found.... See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. (ESV)
Ecclesiastes 12:10–13
The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.
The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. (ESV)

MICAH, Chapter 1

Wednesday Aug 13, 2025

Wednesday Aug 13, 2025

Do not my words do good to him who walks uprightly?
Micah 2:7
 
One of my favorite books of the Bible, highlighting the character of our God - faithful in steadfast love, but holy and righteous in His judgment. He predicted a time when prophets, like himself, would vanish from Israel, but boldly proclaimed God's message in his day:
Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without divination. The sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be black over them; the seers shall be disgraced, and the diviners put to shame; they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God.
 
But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the LORD, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin.
 
Micah 3:6–8
Micah was a contemporary of Amos, Hosea; and Isaiah, and he accurately predicted the fall of Israel to Assyria and Judah to Babylon in judgment for their wicked abuse of power and oppression of the poor. His indictment is scathing:
Hear, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know justice?— you who hate the good and love the evil
Micah 3:1–2
It is no mistake that in the book of Micah God is looking out for the humble, lowly and poor who are being mistreated by the powerful and corrupt, as the birthplace of the Messiah is here announced as that humble little agrarian town of Bethlehem, the House of Bread ... the bread that comes down from heaven, who also was used and abused by the powerful.
 
Micah's predictions of the Lord Jesus, like those of Isaiah, are stunning!
... with a rod they strike the judge of Israel on the cheek.
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.
 
This helpful summary of Micah, we pray, will help in your study of this wonderful book in God's word.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFEUEcylwLc

JEREMIAH, Chapter 42

Tuesday Aug 12, 2025

Tuesday Aug 12, 2025

The prophetic books of Jeremiah, Daniel and Ezekiel mark a radical change in the life of God's people, Israel. Starting with Jeremiah, the Babylonian exile is predicted, and then experienced. Daniel is taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar during Jeremiah's ministry, and after the 586 BC fall of Jerusalem, Ezekiel is called by God to minister to Israel in exile. Indeed, these prophets were aware of each others' ministries, and God's voice in them. Twice Ezekiel refers to Daniel (14:14 and 28:3), and Daniel mentions Jeremiah's prophecies (Daniel 9) as a source of his own prophetic ministry.
Reading Jeremiah should be a learning experience par excellence, as getting clear on all its details and references - seeking to understand the discoveries of biblical archaeology that relate to it, and all the history of Israel, including the two kingdoms, their kings and their successes and failures, their faithfulness and their apostasy - sets one up to understand both the whole progression of scripture from Genesis to Revelation, and God's plan of salvation set in place "before the foundation of the world."
Listen and read with a mind open to God's voice. Search the scriptures to answer the questions you encounter, search the archaeology to display the truth of God's word verified, search the language to understand better the nuances of God's meaning. Read/listen carefully, reverently and inquisitively, and God will show you amazing things!
You have HIS promise on that!
We suggest, as usual, starting here:
https://youtu.be/RSK36cHbrk0?si=KaJSPPn7n6z7x_Pl

ISAIAH, Chapter 28

Monday Aug 11, 2025

Monday Aug 11, 2025

“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be eaten by the sword;
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
 
Isaiah 1:18–20 (ESV)
 
If you want to know that "the LORD He is God! the LORD, He is God!" (1 Kings 18:39) your search for confirmation finds its best resolution in the book of Isaiah. I would argue that Isaiah, more even than Elisha, "wore the prophetic mantle" of Elijah. Only John the Baptist was a greater merely human incarnation of the role of prophet (Matthew 11:11).
Isaiah 42:9 tells us: "Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
Below find two articles that discuss fulfilled Old Testament prophecies. By any objective measure, only God could do this.
As with other books of the Bible, we suggest this brief overview of Isaiah. May your listening to this great OT prophet be as blessed by God as was our reading of it!
 
https://youtu.be/d0A6Uchb1F8?si=Nhsvg2DCZgWRZq_7
 
Check out these two articles on calculations of the probability of one first-century man, Jesus, fulfilling so many OT prophecies!
https://nickcady.org/2020/02/18/the-statistical-probability-of-jesus-fulfilling-the-messianic-prophecies/
https://firmisrael.org/learn/how-many-messianic-prophecies-did-jesus-fulfill/#:~:text=After%20all%2C%20Jesus%20(Yeshua%20in,that%20related%20to%20the%20Messiah!

EZEKIEL, Chapter 40

Friday Aug 08, 2025

Friday Aug 08, 2025

In keeping with our intensive study of Israel's history this year, Jenny and I have concentrated our attention on the Exilic and Post-exilic prophets. We've included Jeremiah in this list, even though he spans the immediate pre-exilic period, leading up to the Babylonian exile.
The most enigmatic exilic prophet, most certainly, is Ezekiel. His name means "God's strength." We encourage our listeners to struggle with Ezekiel's difficulty, as we believe God has a great deal of undiscovered meaning in this text. Some of the most exciting references, for me, are those to his contemporary prophet-in-exile, Daniel (Ezekiel 14:14, 20 and 28:3).
He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

THE BOOK OF JOB, Chapter 36

Thursday Aug 07, 2025

Thursday Aug 07, 2025

The book of Job is wisdom literature, like Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs.
What can we add to what has already been written on the Book of Job?
Is it the oldest book in the canon as its historical milieu would place it, or was it written (down) much later?
Is it merely a literary story meant to illuminate the relation between God and man-in-the-created-order, or is it historical?
We are not so foolish as to claim that we know any of these answers, or how God has in fact put His word together, but we have learned not to put the plausible stories of man in the place of what He says in His word. We will never go far wrong if we simply trust what God says, being careful readers of scripture.
What we do know is that Job is a masterpiece of literature by any metric, and one of (if not) THE greatest works of wisdom literature ever crafted. I cannot help but end with a quote from another such brilliant work:
Ecclesiastes 7:23–29
All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out?
I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness.... Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things — which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found.... See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. (ESV)
Ecclesiastes 12:10–13
The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.
The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. (ESV)

JEREMIAH, Chapter 41

Wednesday Aug 06, 2025

Wednesday Aug 06, 2025

The prophetic books of Jeremiah, Daniel and Ezekiel mark a radical change in the life of God's people, Israel. Starting with Jeremiah, the Babylonian exile is predicted, and then experienced. Daniel is taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar during Jeremiah's ministry, and after the 586 BC fall of Jerusalem, Ezekiel is called by God to minister to Israel in exile. Indeed, these prophets were aware of each others' ministries, and God's voice in them. Twice Ezekiel refers to Daniel (14:14 and 28:3), and Daniel mentions Jeremiah's prophecies (Daniel 9) as a source of his own prophetic ministry.
Reading Jeremiah should be a learning experience par excellence, as getting clear on all its details and references - seeking to understand the discoveries of biblical archaeology that relate to it, and all the history of Israel, including the two kingdoms, their kings and their successes and failures, their faithfulness and their apostasy - sets one up to understand both the whole progression of scripture from Genesis to Revelation, and God's plan of salvation set in place "before the foundation of the world."
Listen and read with a mind open to God's voice. Search the scriptures to answer the questions you encounter, search the archaeology to display the truth of God's word verified, search the language to understand better the nuances of God's meaning. Read/listen carefully, reverently and inquisitively, and God will show you amazing things!
You have HIS promise on that!
We suggest, as usual, starting here:
https://youtu.be/RSK36cHbrk0?si=KaJSPPn7n6z7x_Pl

ISAIAH, Chapter 27

Tuesday Aug 05, 2025

Tuesday Aug 05, 2025

“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be eaten by the sword;
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
 
Isaiah 1:18–20 (ESV)
 
If you want to know that "the LORD He is God! the LORD, He is God!" (1 Kings 18:39) your search for confirmation finds its best resolution in the book of Isaiah. I would argue that Isaiah, more even than Elisha, "wore the prophetic mantle" of Elijah. Only John the Baptist was a greater merely human incarnation of the role of prophet (Matthew 11:11).
Isaiah 42:9 tells us: "Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
Below find two articles that discuss fulfilled Old Testament prophecies. By any objective measure, only God could do this.
As with other books of the Bible, we suggest this brief overview of Isaiah. May your listening to this great OT prophet be as blessed by God as was our reading of it!
 
https://youtu.be/d0A6Uchb1F8?si=Nhsvg2DCZgWRZq_7
 
Check out these two articles on calculations of the probability of one first-century man, Jesus, fulfilling so many OT prophecies!
https://nickcady.org/2020/02/18/the-statistical-probability-of-jesus-fulfilling-the-messianic-prophecies/
https://firmisrael.org/learn/how-many-messianic-prophecies-did-jesus-fulfill/#:~:text=After%20all%2C%20Jesus%20(Yeshua%20in,that%20related%20to%20the%20Messiah!

EZEKIEL, Chapter 39

Friday Aug 01, 2025

Friday Aug 01, 2025

In keeping with our intensive study of Israel's history this year, Jenny and I have concentrated our attention on the Exilic and Post-exilic prophets. We've included Jeremiah in this list, even though he spans the immediate pre-exilic period, leading up to the Babylonian exile.
The most enigmatic exilic prophet, most certainly, is Ezekiel. His name means "God's strength." We encourage our listeners to struggle with Ezekiel's difficulty, as we believe God has a great deal of undiscovered meaning in this text. Some of the most exciting references, for me, are those to his contemporary prophet-in-exile, Daniel (Ezekiel 14:14, 20 and 28:3).
He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

THE BOOK OF JOB, Chapter 35

Thursday Jul 31, 2025

Thursday Jul 31, 2025

The book of Job is wisdom literature, like Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs.
What can we add to what has already been written on the Book of Job?
Is it the oldest book in the canon as its historical milieu would place it, or was it written (down) much later?
Is it merely a literary story meant to illuminate the relation between God and man-in-the-created-order, or is it historical?
We are not so foolish as to claim that we know any of these answers, or how God has in fact put His word together, but we have learned not to put the plausible stories of man in the place of what He says in His word. We will never go far wrong if we simply trust what God says, being careful readers of scripture.
What we do know is that Job is a masterpiece of literature by any metric, and one of (if not) THE greatest works of wisdom literature ever crafted. I cannot help but end with a quote from another such brilliant work:
Ecclesiastes 7:23–29
All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out?
I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness.... Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things — which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found.... See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. (ESV)
Ecclesiastes 12:10–13
The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.
The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. (ESV)

JEREMIAH, Chapter 40

Tuesday Jul 29, 2025

Tuesday Jul 29, 2025

The prophetic books of Jeremiah, Daniel and Ezekiel mark a radical change in the life of God's people, Israel. Starting with Jeremiah, the Babylonian exile is predicted, and then experienced. Daniel is taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar during Jeremiah's ministry, and after the 586 BC fall of Jerusalem, Ezekiel is called by God to minister to Israel in exile. Indeed, these prophets were aware of each others' ministries, and God's voice in them. Twice Ezekiel refers to Daniel (14:14 and 28:3), and Daniel mentions Jeremiah's prophecies (Daniel 9) as a source of his own prophetic ministry.
Reading Jeremiah should be a learning experience par excellence, as getting clear on all its details and references - seeking to understand the discoveries of biblical archaeology that relate to it, and all the history of Israel, including the two kingdoms, their kings and their successes and failures, their faithfulness and their apostasy - sets one up to understand both the whole progression of scripture from Genesis to Revelation, and God's plan of salvation set in place "before the foundation of the world."
Listen and read with a mind open to God's voice. Search the scriptures to answer the questions you encounter, search the archaeology to display the truth of God's word verified, search the language to understand better the nuances of God's meaning. Read/listen carefully, reverently and inquisitively, and God will show you amazing things!
You have HIS promise on that!
We suggest, as usual, starting here:
https://youtu.be/RSK36cHbrk0?si=KaJSPPn7n6z7x_Pl

ISAIAH, Chapter 26

Monday Jul 28, 2025

Monday Jul 28, 2025

“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be eaten by the sword;
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
 
Isaiah 1:18–20 (ESV)
 
If you want to know that "the LORD He is God! the LORD, He is God!" (1 Kings 18:39) your search for confirmation finds its best resolution in the book of Isaiah. I would argue that Isaiah, more even than Elisha, "wore the prophetic mantle" of Elijah. Only John the Baptist was a greater merely human incarnation of the role of prophet (Matthew 11:11).
Isaiah 42:9 tells us: "Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
Below find two articles that discuss fulfilled Old Testament prophecies. By any objective measure, only God could do this.
As with other books of the Bible, we suggest this brief overview of Isaiah. May your listening to this great OT prophet be as blessed by God as was our reading of it!
 
https://youtu.be/d0A6Uchb1F8?si=Nhsvg2DCZgWRZq_7
 
Check out these two articles on calculations of the probability of one first-century man, Jesus, fulfilling so many OT prophecies!
https://nickcady.org/2020/02/18/the-statistical-probability-of-jesus-fulfilling-the-messianic-prophecies/
https://firmisrael.org/learn/how-many-messianic-prophecies-did-jesus-fulfill/#:~:text=After%20all%2C%20Jesus%20(Yeshua%20in,that%20related%20to%20the%20Messiah!

EZEKIEL Chapter 38

Friday Jul 25, 2025

Friday Jul 25, 2025

In keeping with our intensive study of Israel's history this year, Jenny and I have concentrated our attention on the Exilic and Post-exilic prophets. We've included Jeremiah in this list, even though he spans the immediate pre-exilic period, leading up to the Babylonian exile.
The most enigmatic exilic prophet, most certainly, is Ezekiel. His name means "God's strength." We encourage our listeners to struggle with Ezekiel's difficulty, as we believe God has a great deal of undiscovered meaning in this text. Some of the most exciting references, for me, are those to his contemporary prophet-in-exile, Daniel (Ezekiel 14:14, 20 and 28:3).
He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

THE BOOK OF JOB, Chapter 34

Thursday Jul 24, 2025

Thursday Jul 24, 2025

The book of Job is wisdom literature, like Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs.
What can we add to what has already been written on the Book of Job?
Is it the oldest book in the canon as its historical milieu would place it, or was it written (down) much later?
Is it merely a literary story meant to illuminate the relation between God and man-in-the-created-order, or is it historical?
We are not so foolish as to claim that we know any of these answers, or how God has in fact put His word together, but we have learned not to put the plausible stories of man in the place of what He says in His word. We will never go far wrong if we simply trust what God says, being careful readers of scripture.
What we do know is that Job is a masterpiece of literature by any metric, and one of (if not) THE greatest works of wisdom literature ever crafted. I cannot help but end with a quote from another such brilliant work:
Ecclesiastes 7:23–29
All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out?
I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness.... Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things — which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found.... See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. (ESV)
Ecclesiastes 12:10–13
The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.
The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. (ESV)

JEREMIAH, Chapter 39

Tuesday Jul 22, 2025

Tuesday Jul 22, 2025

The prophetic books of Jeremiah, Daniel and Ezekiel mark a radical change in the life of God's people, Israel. Starting with Jeremiah, the Babylonian exile is predicted, and then experienced. Daniel is taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar during Jeremiah's ministry, and after the 586 BC fall of Jerusalem, Ezekiel is called by God to minister to Israel in exile. Indeed, these prophets were aware of each others' ministries, and God's voice in them. Twice Ezekiel refers to Daniel (14:14 and 28:3), and Daniel mentions Jeremiah's prophecies (Daniel 9) as a source of his own prophetic ministry.
Reading Jeremiah should be a learning experience par excellence, as getting clear on all its details and references - seeking to understand the discoveries of biblical archaeology that relate to it, and all the history of Israel, including the two kingdoms, their kings and their successes and failures, their faithfulness and their apostasy - sets one up to understand both the whole progression of scripture from Genesis to Revelation, and God's plan of salvation set in place "before the foundation of the world."
Listen and read with a mind open to God's voice. Search the scriptures to answer the questions you encounter, search the archaeology to display the truth of God's word verified, search the language to understand better the nuances of God's meaning. Read/listen carefully, reverently and inquisitively, and God will show you amazing things!
You have HIS promise on that!
We suggest, as usual, starting here:
https://youtu.be/RSK36cHbrk0?si=KaJSPPn7n6z7x_Pl

ISAIAH, Chapter 25

Monday Jul 21, 2025

Monday Jul 21, 2025

“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be eaten by the sword;
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
 
Isaiah 1:18–20 (ESV)
 
If you want to know that "the LORD He is God! the LORD, He is God!" (1 Kings 18:39) your search for confirmation finds its best resolution in the book of Isaiah. I would argue that Isaiah, more even than Elisha, "wore the prophetic mantle" of Elijah. Only John the Baptist was a greater merely human incarnation of the role of prophet (Matthew 11:11).
Isaiah 42:9 tells us: "Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
Below find two articles that discuss fulfilled Old Testament prophecies. By any objective measure, only God could do this.
As with other books of the Bible, we suggest this brief overview of Isaiah. May your listening to this great OT prophet be as blessed by God as was our reading of it!
 
https://youtu.be/d0A6Uchb1F8?si=Nhsvg2DCZgWRZq_7
 
Check out these two articles on calculations of the probability of one first-century man, Jesus, fulfilling so many OT prophecies!
https://nickcady.org/2020/02/18/the-statistical-probability-of-jesus-fulfilling-the-messianic-prophecies/
https://firmisrael.org/learn/how-many-messianic-prophecies-did-jesus-fulfill/#:~:text=After%20all%2C%20Jesus%20(Yeshua%20in,that%20related%20to%20the%20Messiah!

EZEKIEL, Chapter 37

Friday Jul 18, 2025

Friday Jul 18, 2025

In keeping with our intensive study of Israel's history this year, Jenny and I have concentrated our attention on the Exilic and Post-exilic prophets. We've included Jeremiah in this list, even though he spans the immediate pre-exilic period, leading up to the Babylonian exile.
The most enigmatic exilic prophet, most certainly, is Ezekiel. His name means "God's strength." We encourage our listeners to struggle with Ezekiel's difficulty, as we believe God has a great deal of undiscovered meaning in this text. Some of the most exciting references, for me, are those to his contemporary prophet-in-exile, Daniel (Ezekiel 14:14, 20 and 28:3).
He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

THE BOOK OF JOB, Chapter 33

Thursday Jul 17, 2025

Thursday Jul 17, 2025

The book of Job is wisdom literature, like Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs.
What can we add to what has already been written on the Book of Job?
Is it the oldest book in the canon as its historical milieu would place it, or was it written (down) much later?
Is it merely a literary story meant to illuminate the relation between God and man-in-the-created-order, or is it historical?
We are not so foolish as to claim that we know any of these answers, or how God has in fact put His word together, but we have learned not to put the plausible stories of man in the place of what He says in His word. We will never go far wrong if we simply trust what God says, being careful readers of scripture.
What we do know is that Job is a masterpiece of literature by any metric, and one of (if not) THE greatest works of wisdom literature ever crafted. I cannot help but end with a quote from another such brilliant work:
Ecclesiastes 7:23–29
All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out?
I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness.... Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things — which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found.... See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. (ESV)
Ecclesiastes 12:10–13
The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.
The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. (ESV)

OBADIAH, Complete Book

Wednesday Jul 16, 2025

Wednesday Jul 16, 2025

Obadiah is an odd little book, announcing judgment on Edom, spelled as the Hebrew term for humanity, Adam. We suggest listening/reading to God's word in light of this nice little video that contextualizes this book amongst its other prophetic books.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=i4ogCrEoG5s

JEREMIAH, Chapter 38

Tuesday Jul 15, 2025

Tuesday Jul 15, 2025

The prophetic books of Jeremiah, Daniel and Ezekiel mark a radical change in the life of God's people, Israel. Starting with Jeremiah, the Babylonian exile is predicted, and then experienced. Daniel is taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar during Jeremiah's ministry, and after the 586 BC fall of Jerusalem, Ezekiel is called by God to minister to Israel in exile. Indeed, these prophets were aware of each others' ministries, and God's voice in them. Twice Ezekiel refers to Daniel (14:14 and 28:3), and Daniel mentions Jeremiah's prophecies (Daniel 9) as a source of his own prophetic ministry.
Reading Jeremiah should be a learning experience par excellence, as getting clear on all its details and references - seeking to understand the discoveries of biblical archaeology that relate to it, and all the history of Israel, including the two kingdoms, their kings and their successes and failures, their faithfulness and their apostasy - sets one up to understand both the whole progression of scripture from Genesis to Revelation, and God's plan of salvation set in place "before the foundation of the world."
Listen and read with a mind open to God's voice. Search the scriptures to answer the questions you encounter, search the archaeology to display the truth of God's word verified, search the language to understand better the nuances of God's meaning. Read/listen carefully, reverently and inquisitively, and God will show you amazing things!
You have HIS promise on that!
We suggest, as usual, starting here:
https://youtu.be/RSK36cHbrk0?si=KaJSPPn7n6z7x_Pl

ISAIAH, Chapter 24

Monday Jul 14, 2025

Monday Jul 14, 2025

“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be eaten by the sword;
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
 
Isaiah 1:18–20 (ESV)
 
If you want to know that "the LORD He is God! the LORD, He is God!" (1 Kings 18:39) your search for confirmation finds its best resolution in the book of Isaiah. I would argue that Isaiah, more even than Elisha, "wore the prophetic mantle" of Elijah. Only John the Baptist was a greater merely human incarnation of the role of prophet (Matthew 11:11).
Isaiah 42:9 tells us: "Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
Below find two articles that discuss fulfilled Old Testament prophecies. By any objective measure, only God could do this.
As with other books of the Bible, we suggest this brief overview of Isaiah. May your listening to this great OT prophet be as blessed by God as was our reading of it!
 
https://youtu.be/d0A6Uchb1F8?si=Nhsvg2DCZgWRZq_7
 
Check out these two articles on calculations of the probability of one first-century man, Jesus, fulfilling so many OT prophecies!
https://nickcady.org/2020/02/18/the-statistical-probability-of-jesus-fulfilling-the-messianic-prophecies/
https://firmisrael.org/learn/how-many-messianic-prophecies-did-jesus-fulfill/#:~:text=After%20all%2C%20Jesus%20(Yeshua%20in,that%20related%20to%20the%20Messiah!

EZEKEIEL, Chapter 36

Friday Jul 11, 2025

Friday Jul 11, 2025

In keeping with our intensive study of Israel's history this year, Jenny and I have concentrated our attention on the Exilic and Post-exilic prophets. We've included Jeremiah in this list, even though he spans the immediate pre-exilic period, leading up to the Babylonian exile.
The most enigmatic exilic prophet, most certainly, is Ezekiel. His name means "God's strength." We encourage our listeners to struggle with Ezekiel's difficulty, as we believe God has a great deal of undiscovered meaning in this text. Some of the most exciting references, for me, are those to his contemporary prophet-in-exile, Daniel (Ezekiel 14:14, 20 and 28:3).
He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

THE BOOK OF JOB, Chapter 32

Thursday Jul 10, 2025

Thursday Jul 10, 2025

The book of Job is wisdom literature, like Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs.
What can we add to what has already been written on the Book of Job?
Is it the oldest book in the canon as its historical milieu would place it, or was it written (down) much later?
Is it merely a literary story meant to illuminate the relation between God and man-in-the-created-order, or is it historical?
We are not so foolish as to claim that we know any of these answers, or how God has in fact put His word together, but we have learned not to put the plausible stories of man in the place of what He says in His word. We will never go far wrong if we simply trust what God says, being careful readers of scripture.
What we do know is that Job is a masterpiece of literature by any metric, and one of (if not) THE greatest works of wisdom literature ever crafted. I cannot help but end with a quote from another such brilliant work:
Ecclesiastes 7:23–29
All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out?
I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness.... Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things — which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found.... See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. (ESV)
Ecclesiastes 12:10–13
The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.
The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. (ESV)

AMOS, Chapter 9

Wednesday Jul 09, 2025

Wednesday Jul 09, 2025

The prophet Amos is famous as a fig-farmer who lived in the southern kingdom of Judah, but prophesied to the northern kingdom of Israel. When I think of Amos I am reminded of the problem of place-idolatry, of religious formalism and the placing of our trust in things other than or in addition to the God of Israel. Jenny and I call this "Yahweh-plus," and we think it is definitional of idolatry itself, as in direct conflict with the fundament from which all else follows:
Matthew 22:37–38
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.
When places (or even structures/temples/cathedrals and churches) become religiously important in their own right idolatry is either looming or already present.
Amos 5:4–7:
... thus says the LORD to the house of Israel:
 
“Seek me and live;
but do not seek Bethel,
and do not enter into Gilgal
or cross over to Beersheba;
for Gilgal shall surely go into exile,
and Bethel shall come to nothing.”
 
Seek the LORD and live,
lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
and it devour, with none to quench it for Bethel,
O you who turn justice to wormwood
and cast down righteousness to the earth!
 
As always, getting an overview from a secondary source like this helpful video useful, but should never be a substitute for reading it yourself, allowing God's spirit to instruct you.
Perhaps you will find the next great insight in Amos! God's wisdom and instruction in His word is infinitely deep:
https://youtu.be/mGgWaPGpGz4?si=NdT60fNResrdLNyd

JEREMIAH, Chapter 37

Tuesday Jul 08, 2025

Tuesday Jul 08, 2025

The prophetic books of Jeremiah, Daniel and Ezekiel mark a radical change in the life of God's people, Israel. Starting with Jeremiah, the Babylonian exile is predicted, and then experienced. Daniel is taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar during Jeremiah's ministry, and after the 586 BC fall of Jerusalem, Ezekiel is called by God to minister to Israel in exile. Indeed, these prophets were aware of each others' ministries, and God's voice in them. Twice Ezekiel refers to Daniel (14:14 and 28:3), and Daniel mentions Jeremiah's prophecies (Daniel 9) as a source of his own prophetic ministry.
Reading Jeremiah should be a learning experience par excellence, as getting clear on all its details and references - seeking to understand the discoveries of biblical archaeology that relate to it, and all the history of Israel, including the two kingdoms, their kings and their successes and failures, their faithfulness and their apostasy - sets one up to understand both the whole progression of scripture from Genesis to Revelation, and God's plan of salvation set in place "before the foundation of the world."
Listen and read with a mind open to God's voice. Search the scriptures to answer the questions you encounter, search the archaeology to display the truth of God's word verified, search the language to understand better the nuances of God's meaning. Read/listen carefully, reverently and inquisitively, and God will show you amazing things!
You have HIS promise on that!
We suggest, as usual, starting here:
https://youtu.be/RSK36cHbrk0?si=KaJSPPn7n6z7x_Pl

ISAIAH, Chapter 23

Tuesday Jul 08, 2025

Tuesday Jul 08, 2025

“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be eaten by the sword;
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
 
Isaiah 1:18–20 (ESV)
 
If you want to know that "the LORD He is God! the LORD, He is God!" (1 Kings 18:39) your search for confirmation finds its best resolution in the book of Isaiah. I would argue that Isaiah, more even than Elisha, "wore the prophetic mantle" of Elijah. Only John the Baptist was a greater merely human incarnation of the role of prophet (Matthew 11:11).
Isaiah 42:9 tells us: "Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
Below find two articles that discuss fulfilled Old Testament prophecies. By any objective measure, only God could do this.
As with other books of the Bible, we suggest this brief overview of Isaiah. May your listening to this great OT prophet be as blessed by God as was our reading of it!
 
https://youtu.be/d0A6Uchb1F8?si=Nhsvg2DCZgWRZq_7
 
Check out these two articles on calculations of the probability of one first-century man, Jesus, fulfilling so many OT prophecies!
https://nickcady.org/2020/02/18/the-statistical-probability-of-jesus-fulfilling-the-messianic-prophecies/
https://firmisrael.org/learn/how-many-messianic-prophecies-did-jesus-fulfill/#:~:text=After%20all%2C%20Jesus%20(Yeshua%20in,that%20related%20to%20the%20Messiah!

EZEKIEL, Chapter 35

Friday Jul 04, 2025

Friday Jul 04, 2025

In keeping with our intensive study of Israel's history this year, Jenny and I have concentrated our attention on the Exilic and Post-exilic prophets. We've included Jeremiah in this list, even though he spans the immediate pre-exilic period, leading up to the Babylonian exile.
The most enigmatic exilic prophet, most certainly, is Ezekiel. His name means "God's strength." We encourage our listeners to struggle with Ezekiel's difficulty, as we believe God has a great deal of undiscovered meaning in this text. Some of the most exciting references, for me, are those to his contemporary prophet-in-exile, Daniel (Ezekiel 14:14, 20 and 28:3).
He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

THE BOOK OF JOB, Chapter 31

Thursday Jul 03, 2025

Thursday Jul 03, 2025

The book of Job is wisdom literature, like Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs.
What can we add to what has already been written on the Book of Job?
Is it the oldest book in the canon as its historical milieu would place it, or was it written (down) much later?
Is it merely a literary story meant to illuminate the relation between God and man-in-the-created-order, or is it historical?
We are not so foolish as to claim that we know any of these answers, or how God has in fact put His word together, but we have learned not to put the plausible stories of man in the place of what He says in His word. We will never go far wrong if we simply trust what God says, being careful readers of scripture.
What we do know is that Job is a masterpiece of literature by any metric, and one of (if not) THE greatest works of wisdom literature ever crafted. I cannot help but end with a quote from another such brilliant work:
Ecclesiastes 7:23–29
All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out?
I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness.... Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things — which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found.... See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. (ESV)
Ecclesiastes 12:10–13
The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.
The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. (ESV)

AMOS, Chapter 8

Wednesday Jul 02, 2025

Wednesday Jul 02, 2025

The prophet Amos is famous as a fig-farmer who lived in the southern kingdom of Judah, but prophesied to the northern kingdom of Israel. When I think of Amos I am reminded of the problem of place-idolatry, of religious formalism and the placing of our trust in things other than or in addition to the God of Israel. Jenny and I call this "Yahweh-plus," and we think it is definitional of idolatry itself, as in direct conflict with the fundament from which all else follows:
Matthew 22:37–38
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.
When places (or even structures/temples/cathedrals and churches) become religiously important in their own right idolatry is either looming or already present.
Amos 5:4–7:
... thus says the LORD to the house of Israel:
 
“Seek me and live;
but do not seek Bethel,
and do not enter into Gilgal
or cross over to Beersheba;
for Gilgal shall surely go into exile,
and Bethel shall come to nothing.”
 
Seek the LORD and live,
lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
and it devour, with none to quench it for Bethel,
O you who turn justice to wormwood
and cast down righteousness to the earth!
 
As always, getting an overview from a secondary source like this helpful video useful, but should never be a substitute for reading it yourself, allowing God's spirit to instruct you.
Perhaps you will find the next great insight in Amos! God's wisdom and instruction in His word is infinitely deep:
https://youtu.be/mGgWaPGpGz4?si=NdT60fNResrdLNyd

JEREMIAH, Chapter 36

Tuesday Jul 01, 2025

Tuesday Jul 01, 2025

The prophetic books of Jeremiah, Daniel and Ezekiel mark a radical change in the life of God's people, Israel. Starting with Jeremiah, the Babylonian exile is predicted, and then experienced. Daniel is taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar during Jeremiah's ministry, and after the 586 BC fall of Jerusalem, Ezekiel is called by God to minister to Israel in exile. Indeed, these prophets were aware of each others' ministries, and God's voice in them. Twice Ezekiel refers to Daniel (14:14 and 28:3), and Daniel mentions Jeremiah's prophecies (Daniel 9) as a source of his own prophetic ministry.
Reading Jeremiah should be a learning experience par excellence, as getting clear on all its details and references - seeking to understand the discoveries of biblical archaeology that relate to it, and all the history of Israel, including the two kingdoms, their kings and their successes and failures, their faithfulness and their apostasy - sets one up to understand both the whole progression of scripture from Genesis to Revelation, and God's plan of salvation set in place "before the foundation of the world."
Listen and read with a mind open to God's voice. Search the scriptures to answer the questions you encounter, search the archaeology to display the truth of God's word verified, search the language to understand better the nuances of God's meaning. Read/listen carefully, reverently and inquisitively, and God will show you amazing things!
You have HIS promise on that!
We suggest, as usual, starting here:
https://youtu.be/RSK36cHbrk0?si=KaJSPPn7n6z7x_Pl

ISAIAH, Chapter 22

Monday Jun 30, 2025

Monday Jun 30, 2025

“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be eaten by the sword;
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
 
Isaiah 1:18–20 (ESV)
 
If you want to know that "the LORD He is God! the LORD, He is God!" (1 Kings 18:39) your search for confirmation finds its best resolution in the book of Isaiah. I would argue that Isaiah, more even than Elisha, "wore the prophetic mantle" of Elijah. Only John the Baptist was a greater merely human incarnation of the role of prophet (Matthew 11:11).
Isaiah 42:9 tells us: "Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
Below find two articles that discuss fulfilled Old Testament prophecies. By any objective measure, only God could do this.
As with other books of the Bible, we suggest this brief overview of Isaiah. May your listening to this great OT prophet be as blessed by God as was our reading of it!
 
https://youtu.be/d0A6Uchb1F8?si=Nhsvg2DCZgWRZq_7
 
Check out these two articles on calculations of the probability of one first-century man, Jesus, fulfilling so many OT prophecies!
https://nickcady.org/2020/02/18/the-statistical-probability-of-jesus-fulfilling-the-messianic-prophecies/
https://firmisrael.org/learn/how-many-messianic-prophecies-did-jesus-fulfill/#:~:text=After%20all%2C%20Jesus%20(Yeshua%20in,that%20related%20to%20the%20Messiah!

EZEKIEL, Chapter 34

Friday Jun 27, 2025

Friday Jun 27, 2025

In keeping with our intensive study of Israel's history this year, Jenny and I have concentrated our attention on the Exilic and Post-exilic prophets. We've included Jeremiah in this list, even though he spans the immediate pre-exilic period, leading up to the Babylonian exile.
The most enigmatic exilic prophet, most certainly, is Ezekiel. His name means "God's strength." We encourage our listeners to struggle with Ezekiel's difficulty, as we believe God has a great deal of undiscovered meaning in this text. Some of the most exciting references, for me, are those to his contemporary prophet-in-exile, Daniel (Ezekiel 14:14, 20 and 28:3).
He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

THE BOOK OF JOB, Chapter 30

Thursday Jun 26, 2025

Thursday Jun 26, 2025

The book of Job is wisdom literature, like Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs.
What can we add to what has already been written on the Book of Job?
Is it the oldest book in the canon as its historical milieu would place it, or was it written (down) much later?
Is it merely a literary story meant to illuminate the relation between God and man-in-the-created-order, or is it historical?
We are not so foolish as to claim that we know any of these answers, or how God has in fact put His word together, but we have learned not to put the plausible stories of man in the place of what He says in His word. We will never go far wrong if we simply trust what God says, being careful readers of scripture.
What we do know is that Job is a masterpiece of literature by any metric, and one of (if not) THE greatest works of wisdom literature ever crafted. I cannot help but end with a quote from another such brilliant work:
Ecclesiastes 7:23–29
All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out?
I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness.... Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things — which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found.... See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. (ESV)
Ecclesiastes 12:10–13
The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.
The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. (ESV)

AMOS, Chapter 7

Wednesday Jun 25, 2025

Wednesday Jun 25, 2025

The prophet Amos is famous as a fig-farmer who lived in the southern kingdom of Judah, but prophesied to the northern kingdom of Israel. When I think of Amos I am reminded of the problem of place-idolatry, of religious formalism and the placing of our trust in things other than or in addition to the God of Israel. Jenny and I call this "Yahweh-plus," and we think it is definitional of idolatry itself, as in direct conflict with the fundament from which all else follows:
Matthew 22:37–38
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.
When places (or even structures/temples/cathedrals and churches) become religiously important in their own right idolatry is either looming or already present.
Amos 5:4–7:
... thus says the LORD to the house of Israel:
 
“Seek me and live;
but do not seek Bethel,
and do not enter into Gilgal
or cross over to Beersheba;
for Gilgal shall surely go into exile,
and Bethel shall come to nothing.”
 
Seek the LORD and live,
lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
and it devour, with none to quench it for Bethel,
O you who turn justice to wormwood
and cast down righteousness to the earth!
 
As always, getting an overview from a secondary source like this helpful video useful, but should never be a substitute for reading it yourself, allowing God's spirit to instruct you.
Perhaps you will find the next great insight in Amos! God's wisdom and instruction in His word is infinitely deep:
https://youtu.be/mGgWaPGpGz4?si=NdT60fNResrdLNyd

JEREMIAH, Chapter 35

Tuesday Jun 24, 2025

Tuesday Jun 24, 2025

The prophetic books of Jeremiah, Daniel and Ezekiel mark a radical change in the life of God's people, Israel. Starting with Jeremiah, the Babylonian exile is predicted, and then experienced. Daniel is taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar during Jeremiah's ministry, and after the 586 BC fall of Jerusalem, Ezekiel is called by God to minister to Israel in exile. Indeed, these prophets were aware of each others' ministries, and God's voice in them. Twice Ezekiel refers to Daniel (14:14 and 28:3), and Daniel mentions Jeremiah's prophecies (Daniel 9) as a source of his own prophetic ministry.
Reading Jeremiah should be a learning experience par excellence, as getting clear on all its details and references - seeking to understand the discoveries of biblical archaeology that relate to it, and all the history of Israel, including the two kingdoms, their kings and their successes and failures, their faithfulness and their apostasy - sets one up to understand both the whole progression of scripture from Genesis to Revelation, and God's plan of salvation set in place "before the foundation of the world."
Listen and read with a mind open to God's voice. Search the scriptures to answer the questions you encounter, search the archaeology to display the truth of God's word verified, search the language to understand better the nuances of God's meaning. Read/listen carefully, reverently and inquisitively, and God will show you amazing things!
You have HIS promise on that!
We suggest, as usual, starting here:
https://youtu.be/RSK36cHbrk0?si=KaJSPPn7n6z7x_Pl

ISAIAH, Chapter 21

Monday Jun 23, 2025

Monday Jun 23, 2025

“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be eaten by the sword;
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
 
Isaiah 1:18–20 (ESV)
 
If you want to know that "the LORD He is God! the LORD, He is God!" (1 Kings 18:39) your search for confirmation finds its best resolution in the book of Isaiah. I would argue that Isaiah, more even than Elisha, "wore the prophetic mantle" of Elijah. Only John the Baptist was a greater merely human incarnation of the role of prophet (Matthew 11:11).
Isaiah 42:9 tells us: "Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
Below find two articles that discuss fulfilled Old Testament prophecies. By any objective measure, only God could do this.
As with other books of the Bible, we suggest this brief overview of Isaiah. May your listening to this great OT prophet be as blessed by God as was our reading of it!
 
https://youtu.be/d0A6Uchb1F8?si=Nhsvg2DCZgWRZq_7
 
Check out these two articles on calculations of the probability of one first-century man, Jesus, fulfilling so many OT prophecies!
https://nickcady.org/2020/02/18/the-statistical-probability-of-jesus-fulfilling-the-messianic-prophecies/
https://firmisrael.org/learn/how-many-messianic-prophecies-did-jesus-fulfill/#:~:text=After%20all%2C%20Jesus%20(Yeshua%20in,that%20related%20to%20the%20Messiah!

EZEKIEL, Chapter 33

Friday Jun 20, 2025

Friday Jun 20, 2025

In keeping with our intensive study of Israel's history this year, Jenny and I have concentrated our attention on the Exilic and Post-exilic prophets. We've included Jeremiah in this list, even though he spans the immediate pre-exilic period, leading up to the Babylonian exile.
The most enigmatic exilic prophet, most certainly, is Ezekiel. His name means "God's strength." We encourage our listeners to struggle with Ezekiel's difficulty, as we believe God has a great deal of undiscovered meaning in this text. Some of the most exciting references, for me, are those to his contemporary prophet-in-exile, Daniel (Ezekiel 14:14, 20 and 28:3).
He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

THE BOOK OF JOB, Chapter 29

Thursday Jun 19, 2025

Thursday Jun 19, 2025

The book of Job is wisdom literature, like Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs.
What can we add to what has already been written on the Book of Job?
Is it the oldest book in the canon as its historical milieu would place it, or was it written (down) much later?
Is it merely a literary story meant to illuminate the relation between God and man-in-the-created-order, or is it historical?
We are not so foolish as to claim that we know any of these answers, or how God has in fact put His word together, but we have learned not to put the plausible stories of man in the place of what He says in His word. We will never go far wrong if we simply trust what God says, being careful readers of scripture.
What we do know is that Job is a masterpiece of literature by any metric, and one of (if not) THE greatest works of wisdom literature ever crafted. I cannot help but end with a quote from another such brilliant work:
Ecclesiastes 7:23–29
All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out?
I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness.... Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things — which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found.... See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. (ESV)
Ecclesiastes 12:10–13
The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.
The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. (ESV)

AMOS, Chapter 6

Wednesday Jun 18, 2025

Wednesday Jun 18, 2025

The prophet Amos is famous as a fig-farmer who lived in the southern kingdom of Judah, but prophesied to the northern kingdom of Israel. When I think of Amos I am reminded of the problem of place-idolatry, of religious formalism and the placing of our trust in things other than or in addition to the God of Israel. Jenny and I call this "Yahweh-plus," and we think it is definitional of idolatry itself, as in direct conflict with the fundament from which all else follows:
Matthew 22:37–38
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.
When places (or even structures/temples/cathedrals and churches) become religiously important in their own right idolatry is either looming or already present.
Amos 5:4–7:
... thus says the LORD to the house of Israel:
 
“Seek me and live;
but do not seek Bethel,
and do not enter into Gilgal
or cross over to Beersheba;
for Gilgal shall surely go into exile,
and Bethel shall come to nothing.”
 
Seek the LORD and live,
lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
and it devour, with none to quench it for Bethel,
O you who turn justice to wormwood
and cast down righteousness to the earth!
 
As always, getting an overview from a secondary source like this helpful video useful, but should never be a substitute for reading it yourself, allowing God's spirit to instruct you.
Perhaps you will find the next great insight in Amos! God's wisdom and instruction in His word is infinitely deep:
https://youtu.be/mGgWaPGpGz4?si=NdT60fNResrdLNyd

JEREMIAH, Chapter 34

Tuesday Jun 17, 2025

Tuesday Jun 17, 2025

The prophetic books of Jeremiah, Daniel and Ezekiel mark a radical change in the life of God's people, Israel. Starting with Jeremiah, the Babylonian exile is predicted, and then experienced. Daniel is taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar during Jeremiah's ministry, and after the 586 BC fall of Jerusalem, Ezekiel is called by God to minister to Israel in exile. Indeed, these prophets were aware of each others' ministries, and God's voice in them. Twice Ezekiel refers to Daniel (14:14 and 28:3), and Daniel mentions Jeremiah's prophecies (Daniel 9) as a source of his own prophetic ministry.
Reading Jeremiah should be a learning experience par excellence, as getting clear on all its details and references - seeking to understand the discoveries of biblical archaeology that relate to it, and all the history of Israel, including the two kingdoms, their kings and their successes and failures, their faithfulness and their apostasy - sets one up to understand both the whole progression of scripture from Genesis to Revelation, and God's plan of salvation set in place "before the foundation of the world."
Listen and read with a mind open to God's voice. Search the scriptures to answer the questions you encounter, search the archaeology to display the truth of God's word verified, search the language to understand better the nuances of God's meaning. Read/listen carefully, reverently and inquisitively, and God will show you amazing things!
You have HIS promise on that!
We suggest, as usual, starting here:
https://youtu.be/RSK36cHbrk0?si=KaJSPPn7n6z7x_Pl

ISAIAH, Chapter 20

Monday Jun 16, 2025

Monday Jun 16, 2025

“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be eaten by the sword;
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
 
Isaiah 1:18–20 (ESV)
 
If you want to know that "the LORD He is God! the LORD, He is God!" (1 Kings 18:39) your search for confirmation finds its best resolution in the book of Isaiah. I would argue that Isaiah, more even than Elisha, "wore the prophetic mantle" of Elijah. Only John the Baptist was a greater merely human incarnation of the role of prophet (Matthew 11:11).
Isaiah 42:9 tells us: "Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
Below find two articles that discuss fulfilled Old Testament prophecies. By any objective measure, only God could do this.
As with other books of the Bible, we suggest this brief overview of Isaiah. May your listening to this great OT prophet be as blessed by God as was our reading of it!
 
https://youtu.be/d0A6Uchb1F8?si=Nhsvg2DCZgWRZq_7
 
Check out these two articles on calculations of the probability of one first-century man, Jesus, fulfilling so many OT prophecies!
https://nickcady.org/2020/02/18/the-statistical-probability-of-jesus-fulfilling-the-messianic-prophecies/
https://firmisrael.org/learn/how-many-messianic-prophecies-did-jesus-fulfill/#:~:text=After%20all%2C%20Jesus%20(Yeshua%20in,that%20related%20to%20the%20Messiah!

EZEKIEL, Chapter 32

Friday Jun 13, 2025

Friday Jun 13, 2025

In keeping with our intensive study of Israel's history this year, Jenny and I have concentrated our attention on the Exilic and Post-exilic prophets. We've included Jeremiah in this list, even though he spans the immediate pre-exilic period, leading up to the Babylonian exile.
The most enigmatic exilic prophet, most certainly, is Ezekiel. His name means "God's strength." We encourage our listeners to struggle with Ezekiel's difficulty, as we believe God has a great deal of undiscovered meaning in this text. Some of the most exciting references, for me, are those to his contemporary prophet-in-exile, Daniel (Ezekiel 14:14, 20 and 28:3).
He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

THE BOOK OF JOB, Chapter 28

Thursday Jun 12, 2025

Thursday Jun 12, 2025

The book of Job is wisdom literature, like Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs.
What can we add to what has already been written on the Book of Job?
Is it the oldest book in the canon as its historical milieu would place it, or was it written (down) much later?
Is it merely a literary story meant to illuminate the relation between God and man-in-the-created-order, or is it historical?
We are not so foolish as to claim that we know any of these answers, or how God has in fact put His word together, but we have learned not to put the plausible stories of man in the place of what He says in His word. We will never go far wrong if we simply trust what God says, being careful readers of scripture.
What we do know is that Job is a masterpiece of literature by any metric, and one of (if not) THE greatest works of wisdom literature ever crafted. I cannot help but end with a quote from another such brilliant work:
Ecclesiastes 7:23–29
All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out?
I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness.... Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things — which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found.... See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. (ESV)
Ecclesiastes 12:10–13
The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.
The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. (ESV)

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