“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” ~Mark Twain
If we want a relationship with God, then we need to get to know Him. The primary way we do that is by reading His word to us in Scripture. However, the Bible can be confusing. It was written long ago about people in times and places far removed from us. So, how do we understand how something that happened 2,000 and more years ago can apply to our modern world? Well, first of all, God doesn’t change; He is the same yesterday, today, and always. However the world has changed. We are no longer semi-nomadic clans, or subsistence level fishermen and shepherds living under the pagan thumb of Rome. We have airplanes, credit cards, working women, the internet, and grocery stores. How, then, do we make sense of the word of God in the Bible in a radically different world? Well, we have to understand their original context and then carefully see how they apply in our context. Rest assured they do apply and the more understand the original setting the more we are able to see that.
So, the information that is part of all these Bible Studies will provide the background of the books. For example, we will look at the Neo-Assyrian Empire when we study 2 Kings, Amos, Hosea, and Jonah. We will look at the conquests of Alexander the Great and his successors before we look at the New Testament. Why does it matter? Well as Mark Twain is reputed to have said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” As we study the history of the biblical world we see how our time “rhymes” and then we can better understand how the word of God still speaks to us today.
Bible Studies – Coming Soon
Jewish Feasts