Podcasts about christian bible

If you're watching for the Antichrist, if you're speculating as to who he could be, you're looking for the wrong thing. Because the Bible does speak of a future antichrist—and he is coming at some point—but there is another major sign that must take place before the Antichrist can appear. And it's not the rapture. And I do think that the rapture will happen before the Antichrist appears, but that's kind of a debatable point; there's some wiggle room on that question amongst Christians. There's something else that must happen before the Antichrist can appear. And this one is not debatable: it's 100% clear when you read the prophetic timeline. And once you learn what it is, you won't be on the lookout for the antichrist anymore. You'll know what you should be watching for instead. Find out today on the God and His Prophets podcast.Watch these episodes at my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LukeTaylorPodcastsNeed to get in touch with me? Reach me at GodAndHisProphetsPodcast@gmail.comIf you're looking for a Bible study podcast that goes deep into the major and minor prophets, God and His Prophets offers a verse by verse Bible study through these powerful Old Testament writings. Each episode explores the prophecy in the Bible, from the Book of Ezekiel study and later in Zechariah, helping listeners in understanding prophetic books and seeing their relevance today. We also connect the prophets' words to end times Bible teaching and highlight connections to Revelation, giving you a Christian Bible commentary that equips you for spiritual insight and growth.

A malevolent force is operating through every lever of power — government, media, finance, military — and for the first time in history, its reach is nearly global. Borders that once kept the damage in check are gone. Good has been inverted as evil. Most people feel it but can't name it.In this episode of Presbyter Chat, Darren Kelama names it — and traces it straight back to the Pre-Nicene Christians who fought the same enemy centuries ago. Drawing on scripture from the first Christian Bible of 144 AD, academic research from the Journal of Pre-Nicene Christian Studies, and the survival playbook of the most persecuted denomination in history — the Marcionites — this episode lays out:• Who the "sons of disobedience" are and how they operate through hijacked institutions • Why voting, politics, and the democratic path are now closed • The ancient Greek discipline of Apatheia — calm, detached clarity in the face of manufactured chaos • How persecuted Christians survived by becoming invisible to a system that feeds on fear • Practical steps to disconnect, go off-grid, and protect your family before the window closesScripture readings from the Evangelion and the Epistle to the Laodiceans. Referenced theologians include Thomas Römer, Walter Brueggemann, Peter Enns, and A.W. Mitchell's Theophanic Replacement Protocol.The enemy cannot crush an opponent it cannot see, cannot starve, and cannot terrorize. Your duty is to survive.Notes:Mitchell, A. W. "The Theophanic Replacement Protocol: A Forensic Reconstruction of Divine Identity Theft, Textual Erasure, and the Formation of Nicene Christianity." Journal of Pre-Nicene Christian Studies (2025). DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17964659.Romer, Thomas. The Invention of God. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2015Sorabji, Richard. Emotion and Peace of Mind: From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.The Very First Bible: The Evangelion and Apostolikon (144 AD). 2020. Marcionite Church (marcionitechurch.org). ISBN: 978-0578641591. LinkMarcionite Church (MarcioniteChurch.org)Podcast based largely on this paper: https://www.journal.pre-nicene.org/JPCS-July-2026.htmlExternal media: https://www.youtube.com/@PreNiceneTVFree PreNicene Bible ebook version: https://www.theveryfirstbible.org/ebook.html

Editor: The State Board of Education's decision to add exclusively Christian Bible stories to the public-school reading list is not simply misguided. It is unconstitutional. Public schools are bound by the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which prohibits government from endorsing or privileging any particular religion. When a state agency elevates Christian texts while excluding Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and other religious or philosophical traditions, it abandons the neutrality the Constitution requires. Teaching about religion in an academic, historical, or literary context is entirely permissible. But doing so in a way that highlights one faith and omits all others... Article Link

What does the antichrist look like? I won't pretend I know who it is. I won't even guess. Frankly, I don't even care. I don't plan to be here when he shows up.And the Bible doesn't exactly give us any hints about his hair color, his eye color or his favorite song by the Rolling Stones. BUT in one place it does give us one description of his physical appearance. It might also give us a big hint as to what this mysterious “mark of the beast” is all about in the end times. And you'll find out what that is today on the God and His Prophets podcast.Watch these episodes at my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LukeTaylorPodcastsNeed to get in touch with me? Reach me at GodAndHisProphetsPodcast@gmail.comIf you're looking for a Bible study podcast that goes deep into the major and minor prophets, God and His Prophets offers a verse by verse Bible study through these powerful Old Testament writings. Each episode explores the prophecy in the Bible, from the Book of Ezekiel study and later in Zechariah, helping listeners in understanding prophetic books and seeing their relevance today. We also connect the prophets' words to end times Bible teaching and highlight connections to Revelation, giving you a Christian Bible commentary that equips you for spiritual insight and growth.

Welcome back to Gnostic Insights and to the Gnostic Reformation on Substack. Last week was part one of my interview with Bishop Nathan Wilson of the Gnostic Union, and he explained to us a bit about who the Gnostic Union is and what they believe in. At the beginning of that episode, I read from the Gnostic Union website their history and mission statement. And my brother Billy called me up and said, “Oh, but there’s a point of their theology that’s all wrong. I know they’re ecumenical and all, but we mustn’t fall into the error of wrong teaching.” And, you know, I totally agree with that concept, not teaching anything that is incorrect or that doesn’t make sense, according to the Gnosticism that I share with you here. And it created a very large discussion between my brother and me. And I don’t even have enough time in this short introduction to go into the point that Bill brought up out of their statement of beliefs. So we’ll wait and we’ll do that when these interviews are all over and that way we can go into depth and give the topic the attention it deserves. You see, the Gnosticism that I share with you here mostly comes from the Tripartite Tractate of the Nag Hammadi. And the Tripartite Tractate is a very unusual book. It is not a book of mythology. It is not a book of ancient myths concerning angels and demigods and great battles in heaven and so forth. It’s not that kind of book. We think of it as physics. It’s literally a book that describes the cosmology and the cosmogony, that is, how consciousness came to be transmitted from the base state of consciousness that we call the Father or the Source, and all the way downstream into, ultimately, us. We’re sitting here talking and thinking about it. This is pure consciousness we’re talking about. It’s not particularities. You understand? Gnosis itself we think of as that river of consciousness. That’s what gnosis is. So, I often say, if my dog can’t understand the gnosis, it’s not really gnosis—it's a knowledge claim. If a blade of grass or a tree in the forest can’t bask in the gnosis, then it’s not really gnosis. It’s a human knowledge claim. This is the reason why here at Gnostic Insights and on the Gnostic Reformation, we do not dwell in the history of things. We dwell in the understanding or the gnosis itself. The cosmogony and cosmology of Gnosticism that I share with you here is a logical step-by-step rollout of the consciousness of the Father or the Source. It doesn’t really matter what you call it. It’s the base state. It’s the matrix of consciousness itself and how it flows down to us. There are necessary steps described in the Tripartite Tractate for how that consciousness is differentiated and particularized and then rolled down. And how it is that we material beings are different than the ethereal beings. How could that have possibly happened? It’s like that. It’s a logical progression that necessarily comes out of an a priori statement of consciousness as the ground state. That’s quite a bit different than mythologies of how these angels fit in with these gods and goddesses down here on earth and so forth. Because those particularities definitely come out of the mind of humans. They can be inspired. Okay, I’ll give you that. But they are knowledge claims. They’re not necessarily gnosis and because of that they can go wrong. They can be wrong. Whereas starting with this a priori notion of consciousness ending up in us and how does that occur? By what means does that possibly happen? And how is it that we earthlings plug into that illimitable consciousness? That’s a different thing. That’s a description of process. That’s an understanding or a gnosis of what it is that we are part of. 15 steps in Gnostic Cosmology So I’m not knocking the history or the particularities that Bishop Wilson shares with us. But the gnosis that leads you to enlightenment is simply this: We come from the Father [El Elyon] or from the Source or from the Mother-Father or from the Great Mother—whatever you want to call it. We come from that Source, that unlimited well of consciousness and life and power and might and love. And then we will return to that. That’s all you have to know. We come from Above and we return to Above. And with that knowledge, that’s your base state. That’s what the blades of grass and the dogs and the trees all understand. All the rest of the particularities of who and why and how, those are just details being filled in. Some of them out of gnosis, but most of them out of tradition or history. So we’ll be proceeding now into part two of my interview with Bishop Nathan Wilson of the Gnostic Union. And later on, we’re going to talk some more about the difference between mythology and the process of gnosis. That is what this podcast specializes in. That’s what my brother Bill and I have parsed out and discovered out of direct mining of the Tripartite Tractate. Our gnosis comes from that and it proceeds in an orderly fashion that doesn’t require any extra research. It’s all about gnosis and what must be. But here, let’s go back to this interview with Brother Wilson. **************************************************************** Cyd: Well, tell me more about your Bible that you wrote. What do you call it? You call it… Bishop Nathan Wilson: I call it The Gnostic Christian Truth Bible. I actually asked one of the older bishops that trained me, Bishop Jason, and he started that. So, I like the name. So, I thought, okay, I want to put Gnostic Christian in there. So, I was going to call it first the Truth Bible. He requested that, but I thought, well, Gnostic Christian makes it less likely for the Catholics to come after me as well, and the Protestants. Many do not like my translations. They are quite upset that I’ve done this, but they don’t put too much light on me. So, it’s best not to give me too much attention, basically. So, the less attention I have, the less people know about this, but which is something unique about mine. I don’t just offer my translations. I offer the original Koine Greek with it, so they can look at the actual text. So, even if my translation, say, could be wrong, they could look straight at that text and go argue with the text that they see, which I also wanted to include for their own reason, and when I included the alternative English, it’s so I might read it one way, but someone else is going to read it another way, and that can teach me something new. I feel, oh, I didn’t understand it like that. So, that’s why I wanted to keep that in there too, and a couple of words I kept in there were Greek. So, I kept Logos. I kept Kosmos, Zoe, Sophia, Archon. Magus. I kept all these words. So, very, very Gnostic, and you won’t find these in the English translations. They have gone out of their ways to censor them. I also kept the word daemon or daimon, daemon, so I did not put that down as demon because that’s not what it means. So, I kept the original Greek context of use, and I also add a Greek, Koine Greek, index in my translation so people can actually look at little snippets of what these words mean. So, I have some things in here. So, this is just on one page on basically all Greek with English meaning. So, there’s Logos, which I explained means God’s word, God’s authority, God’s reasoning, song, and speech, and utterance. So, when you see Christians speak that Jesus is speaking the Word, or in the beginning there was Word, they are doing a disservice to what’s being implied. This is the word of God. Very different, and even the word God we use is very English. I did keep up, but for the English sake of things. So, English people wouldn’t freak out too much on me, and another thing is also a safer mouthful, because this Word means supreme deity, deity of deities, which is very interesting. Otherwise, we would go into a god, which is lesser gods as well. So, we have a pantheon. So, it was very different, like even monotheism would evolve into what we think it is today, but in the ancient past with ancient Jewish people, they did believe in other gods, it’s just they chose to worship one god. So, this would be not the same as monotheism now, where you completely reject them as non-existent. This wasn’t that case. So, they had a very different mind. So I kept Sophia being wisdom. I mentioned this is how this is feminine wisdom, God’s feminine wisdom, coming from the Hebrew word Chokmah. Sometimes those are called Chokmah. So, I kept that in there as Sophia. Zoe, I kept too, meaning basically when you see eternal Zoe, that’s eternal life. So, that’s implying the feminine wisdom again, but also the spiritual benefits one receives with a spiritual relationship with God, or what’s with mine. So, I kept that in there. So, it’s very feminine, and that’s being removed. They would not want you to know that life is Zoe, and there’s other words they could have used for life or soul, but they chose to use the word Zoe, and that’s important. So, I kept that in there. And I’ve also got Megas. I’ve already mentioned that, but Magus comes from—here’s two words that are entwined, but the thing was the church has used a later translation, which would be terrible, but that’s kind of wrong, and this is because the language would evolve over time. It came to words Megus and Magos, which basically would be Magi, and then great and powerful, larger than life. So, Jesus was also called Iesous Magos. So, Jesus the Great, Jesus the Wise, has been censored because of Magus, and they don’t want you to know about Simon Magus. They don’t want you to know anything about Gnosticism. So, this has been censored, and I’ve also put some passages where find this. I kept Daemon in here, or Diamon. Gehenna, I also translated in here. I kept Gehenna. I did not use hell because hell is German. It’s realm of light in German, so it’s a Germanic word. So, I kept the word Gehenna, which is ultimately what we would kind of call hell, but it’s not what people think it is. That’s an evolved tradition. So, Gehenna or even Abaddon, these are two different words, but the same thing. Gehenna was the place where the soul was destroyed or purified. So, the text can translate to eternal punishment, but that’s not strictly bound to it. That’s more would be a later theology bound to that translation where it means period of time. So, it doesn’t necessarily mean all these different things. It’s like the word soma where it’s all about Jesus’ body. It can be living body, dead body, or a carcass, or even the living body of the church, which is more symbolic, but fascinating. I also kept in here a couple words, such as I explained Hades, which is mentioned with Sheol and how that’s separate from Gehenna. I’ve kept Helios, Selene, Astron, or Asterios, as well as Aletheia. These words are very interesting because they are all gods. They’re all Greco-Roman gods. So, the scholars or, I really should say, a Christian apologist, that state there’s no pagan gods in the New Testament—they are entirely wrong. It’s just that they have looked at it in a modern Greek eye instead of looking at an ancient past—they would have seen the gods being mentioned. So that’s very interesting. So when Jesus says that the stars and the sun is falling, he’s not speaking about the sun and stars. He’s speaking about the Helios, the Roman sun god is falling, and the stars and goddesses falling, as well as Selene, the moon, so the moon goddess. That’s the falling of the pagan Roman gods that was subjecting the Jewish people. So very different theology. So theology matters. So we have to look at how people believed back these times. [Jesus speaks of the stars, moon, and sun in Matthew 24:29, Mark 13:25, Luke 21:25. Assigning them as gods and goddesses is Bishop Wilson's interpretation.] The Jewish people did not like the Romans. Not saying that all of them did not. We had some that were pro-Roman. One of the Romans that was involved in the Jewish revolt, fighting against the Jewish people, was Jewish, which is cool. And he was related to Philo of Alexandria. So very interesting. I think he might be his grandson. Cyd: Let me jump in for a second as we’re speaking about gods and the God Above All Gods versus lesser gods. Is it your thought that the God of the Jews of the Old Testament, Jehovah, is a lesser god as opposed to the God Above All Gods? Bishop Nathan Wilson: Yes. Cyd: Okay, so Jehovah is the tribal god of the Old Testament? Bishop Nathan Wilson: Yes, a bit of a mix. So there’s two gods. Well, there’s a couple, if you’ve got to go every single god being mentioned. But what they’re describing is, say, Deuteronomy 32:8, you have El Elyon dividing up the nations according to the Elohim being children of El, and Yahweh received his inheritance from the most high God. So Yahweh was more like a guardian deity, basically. He was a brother of Baal. But some Canaanites believed that Yahweh was Baal. So Yahweh kind of came later after Baal. But the first to worship Yahweh were the Sashu of Yahweh. So they were Canaanite raiders. Hebrew was also a Canaanite language.  [The earliest trace of Yahweh isn't Israelite—it's desert-born. Egyptian inscriptions speak of the “Shasu of YHW,” nomadic peoples on the edges of Canaan, sometimes regarded as raiders. It suggests the name of Yahweh may have emerged out of the wilderness before it was ever claimed by Israel. Even Hebrew itself comes out of the same Canaanite linguistic world.] So I see the views—the ones that were worshipping El would be the ones that would become the Essenes or Jewish mystics. So the Essenes worshipped El. They didn’t worship Yahweh. They viewed Yahweh as a lesser god, which is one reason they challenged the temple, because they viewed, you guys aren’t worshipping God, you’re worshipping the lesser deity, you’re worshipping an angel. And so they rejected the temple. And the priesthood was corrupt. So then you also had the Magharians or Magarites. They were first century BC era Jews. They were proto-Gnostic, so that’s a scholar term. So they were Jewish mystics. They believed that Yahweh was a demiurge and that he was a lieutenant. So not an evil demiurge, but he was ignorant of the most high Father El Elyon, but that’s not a name to them. That was just a title meaning most high God. So they didn’t believe in God with a name, the unknowable Father, they believed was beyond sex as well. So Mother-Father, basically. So beyond all things. Too perfect to interfere with matter. And they believed that the Torah had been corrupted. So that’s fascinating. So that’s a group that we want to talk about. So we had about 25 different versions of Judaism during that time with all different beliefs. So what type of Jew was Jesus? This makes a big, big difference. So not all Jews worshipped Yahweh. Some viewed him as a lesser God and some viewed him as the devil, which is whack. So the only Gnostics or proto-Gnostics would use that word devil at that time. So we have the wisdom of Solomon, which is the first text adored by Christians that they would say, look, this is our Messiah mentioning he’s a dying and rising Messiah calling himself the Son of God and he’s been crucified. So this means that just like our text, he would die a shameful death. But this text mentions that through death, the devil enters the world. So the Pharisees didn’t believe in the devil. The Sadducees didn’t either. But what’s interesting about the Pharisees and Sadducees and the Herodians, which kind of made up both these groups, they were a part of both, just the Herodians mostly supported King Herod. They believed that either King Herod was the Messiah or his family would be, or they belonged to the Sadducees and didn’t believe in a Messiah. So the Sadducees didn’t believe in angels. They didn’t believe in an afterlife. They believed once you were dead, the soul turned to dust. God was too perfect to interfere with humans. So that’s an interesting belief. But we had different subsects of Sadducees that had a different opinion to that. They believed that God did interfere with humans, but we had total free will. So they could interfere with some things, but there was no Messiah. There was no angels. So they believed that a human could be a messenger of God. That was about it. So like Moses. Then you had the Pharisees. They believed that Satan served Yahweh. His job was to test humanity or seduce humanity away from God. So that way mankind had free will. But some Pharisees didn’t believe that. They believed that Satan, Hasatan, was just symbolic for mankind’s inclination towards evil. So they didn’t believe in an evil being. So their belief was that God ordained good and evil, basically, would use evil for his own will. So that’s trippy, very trippy. So the Pharisees had a very different belief. They didn’t believe in the adversary against God. They didn’t believe in fallen angels. Later on, they would take on this belief, borrowing it from mystics and zealots. So funny enough, they would be influenced by Jesus’ teachings, such as saving a life on the Sabbath. The Pharisees would not do that. But to be fair, some Essenes wouldn’t do that either. Some Essenes were very warlike, wanting to join God’s angelic army fighting at the Armageddon of the last days of the world. But these mystics, they are the only groups that believed in fallen angels and believed in a place of punishment. The only groups. And that’s fascinating. So they believed in a physical adversary against God. And these beliefs are carried on in the Christianity with the Armageddon day, or even the belief that God basically allows Satan to do what he wants, but he’s going to conquer over him. That was an Essene belief. They believed that Belial was the adversary against God, a fallen angel, leader of the fallen angels, and God would allow him the sin because he would destroy him in the end. So that was an Essene belief, but not all that belief. Some believed that basically fallen angels chose to rebel against God, so they had free will and that God would overcome them in the end. So that’s different. So we have to look at those beliefs because that makes a big difference in theology as well. And one reason I chose to keep daemon or daimon in the text is because this doesn’t mean Jesus is casting out evil demons, but rather, well, the ghost of the mystic belief of pagan gods were fallen angels. So he’s casting out pagan gods, or he’s just casting out unclean spirits, depending on what the definition of word is, because that daimon or unclean spirit, for instance, isn’t always referenced to a pagan god. It’s just someone who’s died vengeful or angry at God, and is now just a ghost causing haunting. So it depends on how it’s being used. So I kept those words in there. So if the word said unclean spirit, I kept that as unclean spirit. But if it was going into a daimon for a pagan god, basically I’ll keep it as that daimon, so they could choose how they’re going to read it. Because sometimes you’re dealing with two things at once. Sometimes you’re dealing with an unclean spirit, then a pagan god’s being mentioned too. So this archon ruler’s having little other minions subject under him. So we even have an archon ruler being mentioned. So an archon of the daemons, ruler of pagan gods. So other gods had dominions, basically. So they viewed these other gods having their own realms of power, which we also see in the Gnostic text. So I kept all that. I also kept the archon of the synagogue, which is a ruler of the synagogue. So it’s not always a bad thing. Sometimes it’s just political rulers that are mentioned. So an archon of the Gentiles, for instance, is just a ruler of Gentiles, just a politician. I have kept archons in the sense of Yahweh somewhat, I believe, as being the devil. Because in John 8:44, we have Jesus going up to the Pharisees and Sadducees and Herodians who made up the high priesthood. He says, You are of your father, the devil. But if only these Gnostic Jews believed in the devil and their God is Yahweh, who’s he calling devil? And then when the daemons are calling him Son of the most high God, they’re calling him huios, which means son. Huios tou theou tou hypsistou, which is Greek for Son of the most high God. But if you put this in the Hebrew, it’s Son of El Elyon. So this is what the pagan gods are calling him. So the lesser gods. And then he’s also saying that we’re all the children of El Elyon, which is also fascinating. And also the word for son they’re using just means child. It can be male or female. But again, they’re wanting a male audience. So they restricted it, which is a shame. Cyd: How about the word aeon? A E O N. What do you do with that word? You know, in my work with the Tripartite Tractate, it seems to me that most references of aeon in the New Testament translate it as time, a period of time, or the end of the ages, the ages. Whereas I tend to see it always as eternal beings from the ethereal plane. What do you think about that? Bishop Nathan Wilson: I love that. I think that too. I think it’s a mixture of all these things, which is also, I keep, it depends on the context of use. But a lot of times you do see the text that is referring to a higher being, which is beautiful to mention, especially when you’re looking at Gnostic works. But you do see this in the New Testament as well. So you see one text mentioning, for instance, who is this Sophia and this higher power? And that’s how the text can translate too, which is fascinating. So that means who’s this unknown higher power. And then it mentions about the Aeon. And so you see all this sort of stuff being mentioned. Yes, it means an eternal being or an angelic being, but it can also mean eternity or a period of time. So depending on the context of use. So words have power as well. So that’s interesting. So again, how it’s used can make a world of a difference. And it’s interesting when they’re using certain words because there are some times that they could have chosen to use a different word. So when they’ve used a certain word like that, that can change the entire context of meaning. Cyd: Right. Like saying there’s some reference to judgment at the end of the age. And I’m always thinking that it’s judgment from the Aeons when I see that. But I’m not translating from scratch, I’m taking biblical translation, so what do I know? Bishop Nathan Wilson: You’re spot on though. So you’re correct. So it can translate that as well. And we have to realize that we have different versions of Christianity. So that’s certainly appropriate for a first century understanding. Most people are looking at from fourth century. So you’re looking at it from a first century point of view. And so you’re ahead of others in that sort of case, which is beautiful to see. So that’s rare. And I chose to keep that for that reason. So people can have their own conclusions, not having it forced onto them. Cyd: You are very much into the history of things. You’re an historian. I am not at all interested in history per se. I’m always talking about what other people believed in other times. That is not pertinent to our gnosis here and now. So what do you view the purpose of this deep historical knowledge that you have concerning the Jews and the Essenes and whatnot? And is it necessary to go into all of that? Bishop Nathan Wilson: If you want to, I guess, teach from a historical perspective as well as a spiritual one, then yes. But if you want to go for spiritual, you can just go by the heart. There were plenty of spiritual teachers that were illiterate, that could not read, that could not write, and they had a beautiful message. So there’s something more powerful that we can receive within that you won’t obtain from books. But ultimately, you can also have wisdom gained from books. It can be a form of worship or a form of connecting with the divine as well. We have many forms of worship or many forms of experience what’s divine or having that intimate moment with what’s divine to reflect and to deepen our purpose. I wanted to know the historical man we call Jesus and ultimately put into practice what he put into practice. So I wanted to look at the history side of things and especially also, what’s another word I would like to use, decondition myself, decondition past beliefs that were harmful, that did not serve me and ultimately not serving others, and also find out that I was wrong about many things, which I wanted to know as well. So what brought me to this was to know the man we call Jesus, Yeshua, or Yehoshua, whichever term you like, whichever name you want to use. So I want to know not just that, but I want to know his practices, what he did with his life, how his first followers lived, how the first Christians lived, and what I could use for my own spiritual path and how I could put that into practice. So that’s why I want to look at the history side of things. I think if you want to put into practice the different techniques of all the many different Gnostics, then you’re going to have to look at some of the history side of things to find those practices. That doesn’t mean that every single practice is necessary for you. So what works for me might not work for others. What works for others might not work for me. So double-edged sword. Cyd: What sort of practices are you referring to? Are these rituals? What’s the practices? Bishop Nathan Wilson: I go into some of the ancient rituals as well. Some of them I might look at the prayers that they would use, the diet they would take, or means of worship. So how they would go about their forms of private practice. So that sort of stuff. And then I might apply it into my own life and see how I can go. There’s still more I’d like to go and check out more. So I’m still studying a couple of some of the ancient practices as well. So from different or religious perspectives as well. And then I can see how I can put it to my own form of use. So I looked at a lot of Jewish Christians, they would do the shema for instance, before their meditations. And I’ll do that as well. [“Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one… You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength…”] They also did breath works back then, which would also induce a sense of intoxication if you want to use, or light headness. And in turn that can also open a new state of reality. So entering the spiritual realm can be a vehicle, if you will, to get there. So to open the mind. And that’s also a practice that’s been used in ancient past. And we can certainly use that today. We have modern practices, say like Wim Hof, that teach breath work in meditation. That’s also useful. So sometimes looking at the past, we do see stuff in today’s world that’s not really new. It’s just being basically reentering this world again, from past knowledge gained of old. And I find that in a lot of Gnostic stuff. When you look at history, you kind of see that Gnostics kind of did a lot of things first, that what we’re doing now that we think is modern, but it’s not. It’s ancient. Cyd: That’s why conventional Christians who read my books, they say, oh, you’re just all new age. And I’m like, no, it’s not new age at all. It’s ancient. Bishop Nathan Wilson: Which is a shame that Christians have been shut off into their own world, which is kind of funny. I actually tell most Christians that they are, in fact, new age, because these beliefs are ancient. And what they are going by is, depending on what version of Christianity, if you’re Protestant, that’s 16th century, I believe. Non-denominal, 18th century. Protestant, 16th century. Catholicism, late second century. Orthodoxy, as we know it now, would be about 14th century. But older Orthodoxy, which would be the split from the Catholic church, is fourth century. So it’s when you go to Gnostic Christians, first century, and we’re really the only groups that are surviving, the Jewish Christians got killed. They ultimately were wiped out or would convert to mainstream Judaism or would become Christian or Islam, they would follow as well. So some would be converted to Muslims, which is also interesting as well. We as Gnostics were also harmed by these other groups, by Catholics, Protestants, Muslims as well. At one point Zoroastrians, but that was only one particular era. And we’ve basically arisen from all that, from that underground, and we’ve still survived, which is fascinating. It’s beautiful that we have. And also the texts that have been rediscovered, this is not accidental. This is all happening for a reason. What’s divine is experiencing itself where it can experience itself and express itself again safely in today’s world. In ancient past, it was dangerous to have diversion after the fourth century, which is a shame because the Catholics would kill those who came before them. They didn’t like that. And they even knew that some of the Gnostics, they had older writings, but they still denied them, which is funny. So it’s why such the hate, which is such a shame. So it goes back to that control of power, my way or the highway, basically. And it was never meant to be like that. It was meant to be very universal. It was meant to be very diverse. The first Christians were Gnostics and Jewish Christians, a mixture between strict law observing Jews and a mixture of Gentiles. And then you had the Jewish mystics that became the Christian mystics, which is fascinating. That was the original groups. And the original groups would argue amongst each other. The strict law observing Jews wanted circumcision, where the mystics said, no, no circumcision of the hearts, let the Gentiles come. That’s fine. So even when we look at the word, say, ethnos, for instance, in the Gospels, when you see kingdom against kingdom, nation against nation, these are the same things. So what they’re actually talking about is Gentile against Gentile and kingdom against kingdom. So the Jewish people didn’t have a kingdom at this stage. It was a mixture of Judea, Galilee and Samaria. So we’re the Samaritans. So that’s also something to take into account, too. So they didn’t like that. They were looking for a messiah to reunify the Jewish people, restore the Jewish faith and make Israel a kingdom again. And so some of them didn’t like the fact that Jesus wasn’t after this, for instance. So they didn’t like some of these teachings. It was a bit different. But if you look at the mystics, they had a very different interpretations. They did believe in a renewal of the Jewish faith, but a renewal back to El Elyon and a rejection of Yahweh. So that’s very different. So when you look at repentance, for Israel to repent, meaning for all of Israel to return back to El Elyon. And if you look at for the Gentiles conversion, that would be referring to not converting to any religion, but converting to God. So God outside religion. So fascinating. So you see all this in the original text. Cyd: And why do you suppose, this might be an unanswerable question, but why do you suppose conventional modern Christians are so, you know, extremely antagonistic towards Gnostic Christians? Is it fear or what? Bishop Nathan Wilson: Well, they’ve been told you're the enemy, basically. And yes, some of it is fear. Fear as well of the unknown. And also because of the need of an opponent. So they believe that they are doing a good thing. And if they don’t do this, they can be punished. So it’s the case of where a victim becomes an abuser. So most Christians have never even heard about Gnostics. It’s only the real ones who are into spiritual warfare, basically, and really full on extremist dogmatic ones that are familiar with, and apologetics. But they are now feeling like they’re losing the battle because more people were interested in Gnosticism and especially interested in other Jewish groups and the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as the Nag Hammadi. So they’re realizing their other texts and there’s other options now. And that’s great. And regarding even my translations, one reason I chose to do it that I did, I found out that no modern English Bible translates from one source material. They’re all a mixture of different sources. So we have the Codex Sinaiticus mixed with the Latin Vulgate, mixing with Germanic copies, and then mixing ancient Koine Greek into modern Hebrew, putting it back into Greek. And that’s not good at all. So we’re just changing—we’re swapping chapters because we feel uncomfortable with them. So I was mortified when I was looking at that. And so I realized I couldn’t trust basically my Bible anymore. So I thought, well, I’m making this myself. And then I thought, well, I’m going to release it. Let’s go and share it too and do what they will with it. And it opened a lot of doorways to me, actually. So that’s one reason I wanted to give that out so people can have their own faith in their own interpretation and also believe in the message of Yeshua, bringing people back to the Most High God, to the Unknowable God, the Living Father, the Mother-Father. And we also see the Mother being mentioned in other texts too. It’s just mostly blocked out by mainstream Christianity, which is unfair, unfair to women and unfair to humanity with their approaches. It’s been very violent. So we need to remove that violence because that’s nothing to do with Yeshua’s teachings. He didn’t teach us to go around fighting each other. He said, Those who are for me are with me. They don’t understand his message. They very much follow the Catholic teachings of Paul that they’ve been given. And so they can look at the Gnostic teachings of Paul as well, which are also in there. Paul’s letters, we now know they’re mostly all forgeries. We don’t have any original copies either. They’re all later fourth century and we have some second century fragments. But the oldest reference to Paul is from the Ten Letters of Marcion. And he’s the man who compiled the first Christian Bible. And some people can argue, some people don’t believe he was a Gnostic. Others think he was a Gnostic. I think he was a type of Gnostic because he believed in a demiurge. So he believed that the God of the Jews was Yahweh and not the Supreme God of Jesus. That is a very Gnostic belief. But the thing is, the word Gnostic was given to us by the Catholic church, was a way of separating us and identifying us. But we wear it as a badge of honor because we understand they’re just calling us knowledgeable Christians, which is kind of funny. So language is powerful and the Catholic church certainly forgot it. So because of them, we now use daimon as demon. So they’ve basically demonized Jesus. They’ve demonized the Holy Spirit, which is their greatest sin. And they’ve demonized God and every other God. So they don’t know what damage they’ve done. And that’s not good. So I wanted to reverse that damage and bring people back to what I believe is the message of Yeshua, of Jesus, and to have their own spiritual relationship with God, an individual relationship, which is something that I want to see more of. That’s a very beautiful thing. You can’t define that intimate experience without living it. Cyd: Right, right. Well, that's all we have time for in this episode. We'll pick it up again next week for part three of my interview with Bishop Nathan Wilson of The Gnostic Union Church.  I like the way he talks, huh? Until next week, onward and upward and God bless us all.

Welcome back to Gnostic Insights and to the Gnostic Reformation on Substack. Last week was part one of my interview with Bishop Nathan Wilson of the Gnostic Union, and he explained to us a bit about who the Gnostic Union is and what they believe in. At the beginning of that episode, I read from the Gnostic Union website their history and mission statement. And my brother Billy called me up and said, “Oh, but there’s a point of their theology that’s all wrong. I know they’re ecumenical and all, but we mustn’t fall into the error of wrong teaching.” And, you know, I totally agree with that concept, not teaching anything that is incorrect or that doesn’t make sense, according to the Gnosticism that I share with you here. And it created a very large discussion between my brother and me. And I don’t even have enough time in this short introduction to go into the point that Bill brought up out of their statement of beliefs. So we’ll wait and we’ll do that when these interviews are all over and that way we can go into depth and give the topic the attention it deserves. You see, the Gnosticism that I share with you here mostly comes from the Tripartite Tractate of the Nag Hammadi. And the Tripartite Tractate is a very unusual book. It is not a book of mythology. It is not a book of ancient myths concerning angels and demigods and great battles in heaven and so forth. It’s not that kind of book. We think of it as physics. It’s literally a book that describes the cosmology and the cosmogony, that is, how consciousness came to be transmitted from the base state of consciousness that we call the Father or the Source, and all the way downstream into, ultimately, us. We’re sitting here talking and thinking about it. This is pure consciousness we’re talking about. It’s not particularities. You understand? Gnosis itself we think of as that river of consciousness. That’s what gnosis is. So, I often say, if my dog can’t understand the gnosis, it’s not really gnosis—it's a knowledge claim. If a blade of grass or a tree in the forest can’t bask in the gnosis, then it’s not really gnosis. It’s a human knowledge claim. This is the reason why here at Gnostic Insights and on the Gnostic Reformation, we do not dwell in the history of things. We dwell in the understanding or the gnosis itself. The cosmogony and cosmology of Gnosticism that I share with you here is a logical step-by-step rollout of the consciousness of the Father or the Source. It doesn’t really matter what you call it. It’s the base state. It’s the matrix of consciousness itself and how it flows down to us. There are necessary steps described in the Tripartite Tractate for how that consciousness is differentiated and particularized and then rolled down. And how it is that we material beings are different than the ethereal beings. How could that have possibly happened? It’s like that. It’s a logical progression that necessarily comes out of an a priori statement of consciousness as the ground state. That’s quite a bit different than mythologies of how these angels fit in with these gods and goddesses down here on earth and so forth. Because those particularities definitely come out of the mind of humans. They can be inspired. Okay, I’ll give you that. But they are knowledge claims. They’re not necessarily gnosis and because of that they can go wrong. They can be wrong. Whereas starting with this a priori notion of consciousness ending up in us and how does that occur? By what means does that possibly happen? And how is it that we earthlings plug into that illimitable consciousness? That’s a different thing. That’s a description of process. That’s an understanding or a gnosis of what it is that we are part of. 15 steps in Gnostic Cosmology So I’m not knocking the history or the particularities that Bishop Wilson shares with us. But the gnosis that leads you to enlightenment is simply this: We come from the Father [El Elyon] or from the Source or from the Mother-Father or from the Great Mother—whatever you want to call it. We come from that Source, that unlimited well of consciousness and life and power and might and love. And then we will return to that. That’s all you have to know. We come from Above and we return to Above. And with that knowledge, that’s your base state. That’s what the blades of grass and the dogs and the trees all understand. All the rest of the particularities of who and why and how, those are just details being filled in. Some of them out of gnosis, but most of them out of tradition or history. So we’ll be proceeding now into part two of my interview with Bishop Nathan Wilson of the Gnostic Union. And later on, we’re going to talk some more about the difference between mythology and the process of gnosis. That is what this podcast specializes in. That’s what my brother Bill and I have parsed out and discovered out of direct mining of the Tripartite Tractate. Our gnosis comes from that and it proceeds in an orderly fashion that doesn’t require any extra research. It’s all about gnosis and what must be. But here, let’s go back to this interview with Brother Wilson. **************************************************************** Cyd: Well, tell me more about your Bible that you wrote. What do you call it? You call it… Bishop Nathan Wilson: I call it The Gnostic Christian Truth Bible. I actually asked one of the older bishops that trained me, Bishop Jason, and he started that. So, I like the name. So, I thought, okay, I want to put Gnostic Christian in there. So, I was going to call it first the Truth Bible. He requested that, but I thought, well, Gnostic Christian makes it less likely for the Catholics to come after me as well, and the Protestants. Many do not like my translations. They are quite upset that I’ve done this, but they don’t put too much light on me. So, it’s best not to give me too much attention, basically. So, the less attention I have, the less people know about this, but which is something unique about mine. I don’t just offer my translations. I offer the original Koine Greek with it, so they can look at the actual text. So, even if my translation, say, could be wrong, they could look straight at that text and go argue with the text that they see, which I also wanted to include for their own reason, and when I included the alternative English, it’s so I might read it one way, but someone else is going to read it another way, and that can teach me something new. I feel, oh, I didn’t understand it like that. So, that’s why I wanted to keep that in there too, and a couple of words I kept in there were Greek. So, I kept Logos. I kept Kosmos, Zoe, Sophia, Archon. Magus. I kept all these words. So, very, very Gnostic, and you won’t find these in the English translations. They have gone out of their ways to censor them. I also kept the word daemon or daimon, daemon, so I did not put that down as demon because that’s not what it means. So, I kept the original Greek context of use, and I also add a Greek, Koine Greek, index in my translation so people can actually look at little snippets of what these words mean. So, I have some things in here. So, this is just on one page on basically all Greek with English meaning. So, there’s Logos, which I explained means God’s word, God’s authority, God’s reasoning, song, and speech, and utterance. So, when you see Christians speak that Jesus is speaking the Word, or in the beginning there was Word, they are doing a disservice to what’s being implied. This is the word of God. Very different, and even the word God we use is very English. I did keep up, but for the English sake of things. So, English people wouldn’t freak out too much on me, and another thing is also a safer mouthful, because this Word means supreme deity, deity of deities, which is very interesting. Otherwise, we would go into a god, which is lesser gods as well. So, we have a pantheon. So, it was very different, like even monotheism would evolve into what we think it is today, but in the ancient past with ancient Jewish people, they did believe in other gods, it’s just they chose to worship one god. So, this would be not the same as monotheism now, where you completely reject them as non-existent. This wasn’t that case. So, they had a very different mind. So I kept Sophia being wisdom. I mentioned this is how this is feminine wisdom, God’s feminine wisdom, coming from the Hebrew word Chokmah. Sometimes those are called Chokmah. So, I kept that in there as Sophia. Zoe, I kept too, meaning basically when you see eternal Zoe, that’s eternal life. So, that’s implying the feminine wisdom again, but also the spiritual benefits one receives with a spiritual relationship with God, or what’s with mine. So, I kept that in there. So, it’s very feminine, and that’s being removed. They would not want you to know that life is Zoe, and there’s other words they could have used for life or soul, but they chose to use the word Zoe, and that’s important. So, I kept that in there. And I’ve also got Megas. I’ve already mentioned that, but Magus comes from—here’s two words that are entwined, but the thing was the church has used a later translation, which would be terrible, but that’s kind of wrong, and this is because the language would evolve over time. It came to words Megus and Magos, which basically would be Magi, and then great and powerful, larger than life. So, Jesus was also called Iesous Magos. So, Jesus the Great, Jesus the Wise, has been censored because of Magus, and they don’t want you to know about Simon Magus. They don’t want you to know anything about Gnosticism. So, this has been censored, and I’ve also put some passages where find this. I kept Daemon in here, or Diamon. Gehenna, I also translated in here. I kept Gehenna. I did not use hell because hell is German. It’s realm of light in German, so it’s a Germanic word. So, I kept the word Gehenna, which is ultimately what we would kind of call hell, but it’s not what people think it is. That’s an evolved tradition. So, Gehenna or even Abaddon, these are two different words, but the same thing. Gehenna was the place where the soul was destroyed or purified. So, the text can translate to eternal punishment, but that’s not strictly bound to it. That’s more would be a later theology bound to that translation where it means period of time. So, it doesn’t necessarily mean all these different things. It’s like the word soma where it’s all about Jesus’ body. It can be living body, dead body, or a carcass, or even the living body of the church, which is more symbolic, but fascinating. I also kept in here a couple words, such as I explained Hades, which is mentioned with Sheol and how that’s separate from Gehenna. I’ve kept Helios, Selene, Astron, or Asterios, as well as Aletheia. These words are very interesting because they are all gods. They’re all Greco-Roman gods. So, the scholars or, I really should say, a Christian apologist, that state there’s no pagan gods in the New Testament—they are entirely wrong. It’s just that they have looked at it in a modern Greek eye instead of looking at an ancient past—they would have seen the gods being mentioned. So that’s very interesting. So when Jesus says that the stars and the sun is falling, he’s not speaking about the sun and stars. He’s speaking about the Helios, the Roman sun god is falling, and the stars and goddesses falling, as well as Selene, the moon, so the moon goddess. That’s the falling of the pagan Roman gods that was subjecting the Jewish people. So very different theology. So theology matters. So we have to look at how people believed back these times. [Jesus speaks of the stars, moon, and sun in Matthew 24:29, Mark 13:25, Luke 21:25. Assigning them as gods and goddesses is Bishop Wilson's interpretation.] The Jewish people did not like the Romans. Not saying that all of them did not. We had some that were pro-Roman. One of the Romans that was involved in the Jewish revolt, fighting against the Jewish people, was Jewish, which is cool. And he was related to Philo of Alexandria. So very interesting. I think he might be his grandson. Cyd: Let me jump in for a second as we’re speaking about gods and the God Above All Gods versus lesser gods. Is it your thought that the God of the Jews of the Old Testament, Jehovah, is a lesser god as opposed to the God Above All Gods? Bishop Nathan Wilson: Yes. Cyd: Okay, so Jehovah is the tribal god of the Old Testament? Bishop Nathan Wilson: Yes, a bit of a mix. So there’s two gods. Well, there’s a couple, if you’ve got to go every single god being mentioned. But what they’re describing is, say, Deuteronomy 32:8, you have El Elyon dividing up the nations according to the Elohim being children of El, and Yahweh received his inheritance from the most high God. So Yahweh was more like a guardian deity, basically. He was a brother of Baal. But some Canaanites believed that Yahweh was Baal. So Yahweh kind of came later after Baal. But the first to worship Yahweh were the Sashu of Yahweh. So they were Canaanite raiders. Hebrew was also a Canaanite language.  [The earliest trace of Yahweh isn't Israelite—it's desert-born. Egyptian inscriptions speak of the “Shasu of YHW,” nomadic peoples on the edges of Canaan, sometimes regarded as raiders. It suggests the name of Yahweh may have emerged out of the wilderness before it was ever claimed by Israel. Even Hebrew itself comes out of the same Canaanite linguistic world.] So I see the views—the ones that were worshipping El would be the ones that would become the Essenes or Jewish mystics. So the Essenes worshipped El. They didn’t worship Yahweh. They viewed Yahweh as a lesser god, which is one reason they challenged the temple, because they viewed, you guys aren’t worshipping God, you’re worshipping the lesser deity, you’re worshipping an angel. And so they rejected the temple. And the priesthood was corrupt. So then you also had the Magharians or Magarites. They were first century BC era Jews. They were proto-Gnostic, so that’s a scholar term. So they were Jewish mystics. They believed that Yahweh was a demiurge and that he was a lieutenant. So not an evil demiurge, but he was ignorant of the most high Father El Elyon, but that’s not a name to them. That was just a title meaning most high God. So they didn’t believe in God with a name, the unknowable Father, they believed was beyond sex as well. So Mother-Father, basically. So beyond all things. Too perfect to interfere with matter. And they believed that the Torah had been corrupted. So that’s fascinating. So that’s a group that we want to talk about. So we had about 25 different versions of Judaism during that time with all different beliefs. So what type of Jew was Jesus? This makes a big, big difference. So not all Jews worshipped Yahweh. Some viewed him as a lesser God and some viewed him as the devil, which is whack. So the only Gnostics or proto-Gnostics would use that word devil at that time. So we have the wisdom of Solomon, which is the first text adored by Christians that they would say, look, this is our Messiah mentioning he’s a dying and rising Messiah calling himself the Son of God and he’s been crucified. So this means that just like our text, he would die a shameful death. But this text mentions that through death, the devil enters the world. So the Pharisees didn’t believe in the devil. The Sadducees didn’t either. But what’s interesting about the Pharisees and Sadducees and the Herodians, which kind of made up both these groups, they were a part of both, just the Herodians mostly supported King Herod. They believed that either King Herod was the Messiah or his family would be, or they belonged to the Sadducees and didn’t believe in a Messiah. So the Sadducees didn’t believe in angels. They didn’t believe in an afterlife. They believed once you were dead, the soul turned to dust. God was too perfect to interfere with humans. So that’s an interesting belief. But we had different subsects of Sadducees that had a different opinion to that. They believed that God did interfere with humans, but we had total free will. So they could interfere with some things, but there was no Messiah. There was no angels. So they believed that a human could be a messenger of God. That was about it. So like Moses. Then you had the Pharisees. They believed that Satan served Yahweh. His job was to test humanity or seduce humanity away from God. So that way mankind had free will. But some Pharisees didn’t believe that. They believed that Satan, Hasatan, was just symbolic for mankind’s inclination towards evil. So they didn’t believe in an evil being. So their belief was that God ordained good and evil, basically, would use evil for his own will. So that’s trippy, very trippy. So the Pharisees had a very different belief. They didn’t believe in the adversary against God. They didn’t believe in fallen angels. Later on, they would take on this belief, borrowing it from mystics and zealots. So funny enough, they would be influenced by Jesus’ teachings, such as saving a life on the Sabbath. The Pharisees would not do that. But to be fair, some Essenes wouldn’t do that either. Some Essenes were very warlike, wanting to join God’s angelic army fighting at the Armageddon of the last days of the world. But these mystics, they are the only groups that believed in fallen angels and believed in a place of punishment. The only groups. And that’s fascinating. So they believed in a physical adversary against God. And these beliefs are carried on in the Christianity with the Armageddon day, or even the belief that God basically allows Satan to do what he wants, but he’s going to conquer over him. That was an Essene belief. They believed that Belial was the adversary against God, a fallen angel, leader of the fallen angels, and God would allow him the sin because he would destroy him in the end. So that was an Essene belief, but not all that belief. Some believed that basically fallen angels chose to rebel against God, so they had free will and that God would overcome them in the end. So that’s different. So we have to look at those beliefs because that makes a big difference in theology as well. And one reason I chose to keep daemon or daimon in the text is because this doesn’t mean Jesus is casting out evil demons, but rather, well, the ghost of the mystic belief of pagan gods were fallen angels. So he’s casting out pagan gods, or he’s just casting out unclean spirits, depending on what the definition of word is, because that daimon or unclean spirit, for instance, isn’t always referenced to a pagan god. It’s just someone who’s died vengeful or angry at God, and is now just a ghost causing haunting. So it depends on how it’s being used. So I kept those words in there. So if the word said unclean spirit, I kept that as unclean spirit. But if it was going into a daimon for a pagan god, basically I’ll keep it as that daimon, so they could choose how they’re going to read it. Because sometimes you’re dealing with two things at once. Sometimes you’re dealing with an unclean spirit, then a pagan god’s being mentioned too. So this archon ruler’s having little other minions subject under him. So we even have an archon ruler being mentioned. So an archon of the daemons, ruler of pagan gods. So other gods had dominions, basically. So they viewed these other gods having their own realms of power, which we also see in the Gnostic text. So I kept all that. I also kept the archon of the synagogue, which is a ruler of the synagogue. So it’s not always a bad thing. Sometimes it’s just political rulers that are mentioned. So an archon of the Gentiles, for instance, is just a ruler of Gentiles, just a politician. I have kept archons in the sense of Yahweh somewhat, I believe, as being the devil. Because in John 8:44, we have Jesus going up to the Pharisees and Sadducees and Herodians who made up the high priesthood. He says, You are of your father, the devil. But if only these Gnostic Jews believed in the devil and their God is Yahweh, who’s he calling devil? And then when the daemons are calling him Son of the most high God, they’re calling him huios, which means son. Huios tou theou tou hypsistou, which is Greek for Son of the most high God. But if you put this in the Hebrew, it’s Son of El Elyon. So this is what the pagan gods are calling him. So the lesser gods. And then he’s also saying that we’re all the children of El Elyon, which is also fascinating. And also the word for son they’re using just means child. It can be male or female. But again, they’re wanting a male audience. So they restricted it, which is a shame. Cyd: How about the word aeon? A E O N. What do you do with that word? You know, in my work with the Tripartite Tractate, it seems to me that most references of aeon in the New Testament translate it as time, a period of time, or the end of the ages, the ages. Whereas I tend to see it always as eternal beings from the ethereal plane. What do you think about that? Bishop Nathan Wilson: I love that. I think that too. I think it’s a mixture of all these things, which is also, I keep, it depends on the context of use. But a lot of times you do see the text that is referring to a higher being, which is beautiful to mention, especially when you’re looking at Gnostic works. But you do see this in the New Testament as well. So you see one text mentioning, for instance, who is this Sophia and this higher power? And that’s how the text can translate too, which is fascinating. So that means who’s this unknown higher power. And then it mentions about the Aeon. And so you see all this sort of stuff being mentioned. Yes, it means an eternal being or an angelic being, but it can also mean eternity or a period of time. So depending on the context of use. So words have power as well. So that’s interesting. So again, how it’s used can make a world of a difference. And it’s interesting when they’re using certain words because there are some times that they could have chosen to use a different word. So when they’ve used a certain word like that, that can change the entire context of meaning. Cyd: Right. Like saying there’s some reference to judgment at the end of the age. And I’m always thinking that it’s judgment from the Aeons when I see that. But I’m not translating from scratch, I’m taking biblical translation, so what do I know? Bishop Nathan Wilson: You’re spot on though. So you’re correct. So it can translate that as well. And we have to realize that we have different versions of Christianity. So that’s certainly appropriate for a first century understanding. Most people are looking at from fourth century. So you’re looking at it from a first century point of view. And so you’re ahead of others in that sort of case, which is beautiful to see. So that’s rare. And I chose to keep that for that reason. So people can have their own conclusions, not having it forced onto them. Cyd: You are very much into the history of things. You’re an historian. I am not at all interested in history per se. I’m always talking about what other people believed in other times. That is not pertinent to our gnosis here and now. So what do you view the purpose of this deep historical knowledge that you have concerning the Jews and the Essenes and whatnot? And is it necessary to go into all of that? Bishop Nathan Wilson: If you want to, I guess, teach from a historical perspective as well as a spiritual one, then yes. But if you want to go for spiritual, you can just go by the heart. There were plenty of spiritual teachers that were illiterate, that could not read, that could not write, and they had a beautiful message. So there’s something more powerful that we can receive within that you won’t obtain from books. But ultimately, you can also have wisdom gained from books. It can be a form of worship or a form of connecting with the divine as well. We have many forms of worship or many forms of experience what’s divine or having that intimate moment with what’s divine to reflect and to deepen our purpose. I wanted to know the historical man we call Jesus and ultimately put into practice what he put into practice. So I wanted to look at the history side of things and especially also, what’s another word I would like to use, decondition myself, decondition past beliefs that were harmful, that did not serve me and ultimately not serving others, and also find out that I was wrong about many things, which I wanted to know as well. So what brought me to this was to know the man we call Jesus, Yeshua, or Yehoshua, whichever term you like, whichever name you want to use. So I want to know not just that, but I want to know his practices, what he did with his life, how his first followers lived, how the first Christians lived, and what I could use for my own spiritual path and how I could put that into practice. So that’s why I want to look at the history side of things. I think if you want to put into practice the different techniques of all the many different Gnostics, then you’re going to have to look at some of the history side of things to find those practices. That doesn’t mean that every single practice is necessary for you. So what works for me might not work for others. What works for others might not work for me. So double-edged sword. Cyd: What sort of practices are you referring to? Are these rituals? What’s the practices? Bishop Nathan Wilson: I go into some of the ancient rituals as well. Some of them I might look at the prayers that they would use, the diet they would take, or means of worship. So how they would go about their forms of private practice. So that sort of stuff. And then I might apply it into my own life and see how I can go. There’s still more I’d like to go and check out more. So I’m still studying a couple of some of the ancient practices as well. So from different or religious perspectives as well. And then I can see how I can put it to my own form of use. So I looked at a lot of Jewish Christians, they would do the shema for instance, before their meditations. And I’ll do that as well. [“Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one… You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength…”] They also did breath works back then, which would also induce a sense of intoxication if you want to use, or light headness. And in turn that can also open a new state of reality. So entering the spiritual realm can be a vehicle, if you will, to get there. So to open the mind. And that’s also a practice that’s been used in ancient past. And we can certainly use that today. We have modern practices, say like Wim Hof, that teach breath work in meditation. That’s also useful. So sometimes looking at the past, we do see stuff in today’s world that’s not really new. It’s just being basically reentering this world again, from past knowledge gained of old. And I find that in a lot of Gnostic stuff. When you look at history, you kind of see that Gnostics kind of did a lot of things first, that what we’re doing now that we think is modern, but it’s not. It’s ancient. Cyd: That’s why conventional Christians who read my books, they say, oh, you’re just all new age. And I’m like, no, it’s not new age at all. It’s ancient. Bishop Nathan Wilson: Which is a shame that Christians have been shut off into their own world, which is kind of funny. I actually tell most Christians that they are, in fact, new age, because these beliefs are ancient. And what they are going by is, depending on what version of Christianity, if you’re Protestant, that’s 16th century, I believe. Non-denominal, 18th century. Protestant, 16th century. Catholicism, late second century. Orthodoxy, as we know it now, would be about 14th century. But older Orthodoxy, which would be the split from the Catholic church, is fourth century. So it’s when you go to Gnostic Christians, first century, and we’re really the only groups that are surviving, the Jewish Christians got killed. They ultimately were wiped out or would convert to mainstream Judaism or would become Christian or Islam, they would follow as well. So some would be converted to Muslims, which is also interesting as well. We as Gnostics were also harmed by these other groups, by Catholics, Protestants, Muslims as well. At one point Zoroastrians, but that was only one particular era. And we’ve basically arisen from all that, from that underground, and we’ve still survived, which is fascinating. It’s beautiful that we have. And also the texts that have been rediscovered, this is not accidental. This is all happening for a reason. What’s divine is experiencing itself where it can experience itself and express itself again safely in today’s world. In ancient past, it was dangerous to have diversion after the fourth century, which is a shame because the Catholics would kill those who came before them. They didn’t like that. And they even knew that some of the Gnostics, they had older writings, but they still denied them, which is funny. So it’s why such the hate, which is such a shame. So it goes back to that control of power, my way or the highway, basically. And it was never meant to be like that. It was meant to be very universal. It was meant to be very diverse. The first Christians were Gnostics and Jewish Christians, a mixture between strict law observing Jews and a mixture of Gentiles. And then you had the Jewish mystics that became the Christian mystics, which is fascinating. That was the original groups. And the original groups would argue amongst each other. The strict law observing Jews wanted circumcision, where the mystics said, no, no circumcision of the hearts, let the Gentiles come. That’s fine. So even when we look at the word, say, ethnos, for instance, in the Gospels, when you see kingdom against kingdom, nation against nation, these are the same things. So what they’re actually talking about is Gentile against Gentile and kingdom against kingdom. So the Jewish people didn’t have a kingdom at this stage. It was a mixture of Judea, Galilee and Samaria. So we’re the Samaritans. So that’s also something to take into account, too. So they didn’t like that. They were looking for a messiah to reunify the Jewish people, restore the Jewish faith and make Israel a kingdom again. And so some of them didn’t like the fact that Jesus wasn’t after this, for instance. So they didn’t like some of these teachings. It was a bit different. But if you look at the mystics, they had a very different interpretations. They did believe in a renewal of the Jewish faith, but a renewal back to El Elyon and a rejection of Yahweh. So that’s very different. So when you look at repentance, for Israel to repent, meaning for all of Israel to return back to El Elyon. And if you look at for the Gentiles conversion, that would be referring to not converting to any religion, but converting to God. So God outside religion. So fascinating. So you see all this in the original text. Cyd: And why do you suppose, this might be an unanswerable question, but why do you suppose conventional modern Christians are so, you know, extremely antagonistic towards Gnostic Christians? Is it fear or what? Bishop Nathan Wilson: Well, they’ve been told you're the enemy, basically. And yes, some of it is fear. Fear as well of the unknown. And also because of the need of an opponent. So they believe that they are doing a good thing. And if they don’t do this, they can be punished. So it’s the case of where a victim becomes an abuser. So most Christians have never even heard about Gnostics. It’s only the real ones who are into spiritual warfare, basically, and really full on extremist dogmatic ones that are familiar with, and apologetics. But they are now feeling like they’re losing the battle because more people were interested in Gnosticism and especially interested in other Jewish groups and the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as the Nag Hammadi. So they’re realizing their other texts and there’s other options now. And that’s great. And regarding even my translations, one reason I chose to do it that I did, I found out that no modern English Bible translates from one source material. They’re all a mixture of different sources. So we have the Codex Sinaiticus mixed with the Latin Vulgate, mixing with Germanic copies, and then mixing ancient Koine Greek into modern Hebrew, putting it back into Greek. And that’s not good at all. So we’re just changing—we’re swapping chapters because we feel uncomfortable with them. So I was mortified when I was looking at that. And so I realized I couldn’t trust basically my Bible anymore. So I thought, well, I’m making this myself. And then I thought, well, I’m going to release it. Let’s go and share it too and do what they will with it. And it opened a lot of doorways to me, actually. So that’s one reason I wanted to give that out so people can have their own faith in their own interpretation and also believe in the message of Yeshua, bringing people back to the Most High God, to the Unknowable God, the Living Father, the Mother-Father. And we also see the Mother being mentioned in other texts too. It’s just mostly blocked out by mainstream Christianity, which is unfair, unfair to women and unfair to humanity with their approaches. It’s been very violent. So we need to remove that violence because that’s nothing to do with Yeshua’s teachings. He didn’t teach us to go around fighting each other. He said, Those who are for me are with me. They don’t understand his message. They very much follow the Catholic teachings of Paul that they’ve been given. And so they can look at the Gnostic teachings of Paul as well, which are also in there. Paul’s letters, we now know they’re mostly all forgeries. We don’t have any original copies either. They’re all later fourth century and we have some second century fragments. But the oldest reference to Paul is from the Ten Letters of Marcion. And he’s the man who compiled the first Christian Bible. And some people can argue, some people don’t believe he was a Gnostic. Others think he was a Gnostic. I think he was a type of Gnostic because he believed in a demiurge. So he believed that the God of the Jews was Yahweh and not the Supreme God of Jesus. That is a very Gnostic belief. But the thing is, the word Gnostic was given to us by the Catholic church, was a way of separating us and identifying us. But we wear it as a badge of honor because we understand they’re just calling us knowledgeable Christians, which is kind of funny. So language is powerful and the Catholic church certainly forgot it. So because of them, we now use daimon as demon. So they’ve basically demonized Jesus. They’ve demonized the Holy Spirit, which is their greatest sin. And they’ve demonized God and every other God. So they don’t know what damage they’ve done. And that’s not good. So I wanted to reverse that damage and bring people back to what I believe is the message of Yeshua, of Jesus, and to have their own spiritual relationship with God, an individual relationship, which is something that I want to see more of. That’s a very beautiful thing. You can’t define that intimate experience without living it. Cyd: Right, right. Well, that's all we have time for in this episode. We'll pick it up again next week for part three of my interview with Bishop Nathan Wilson of The Gnostic Union Church.  I like the way he talks, huh? Until next week, onward and upward and God bless us all.

We all know the story of Judas- he betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. But why that amount- was there any significance to it? Well, it does show up in the book of Exodus as the price of a slave. But what is the connection between the price of a slave and the price for which Judas betrayed Jesus? The book of Zechariah is gonna tie those two things together, and you'll learn what that is as we study some Messianic Prophecy today on the God and His Prophets podcast.Watch these episodes at my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LukeTaylorPodcastsNeed to get in touch with me? Reach me at GodAndHisProphetsPodcast@gmail.comIf you're looking for a Bible study podcast that goes deep into the major and minor prophets, God and His Prophets offers a verse by verse Bible study through these powerful Old Testament writings. Each episode explores the prophecy in the Bible, from the Book of Ezekiel study and later in Zechariah, helping listeners in understanding prophetic books and seeing their relevance today. We also connect the prophets' words to end times Bible teaching and highlight connections to Revelation, giving you a Christian Bible commentary that equips you for spiritual insight and growth.

When you think about it, box turtles have a pretty good life. Whenever they want to be left alone, they can close up into their shells. They always have an excuse for being late. (I mean after all, they're turtles.) And if someone is ever annoying them, they can just pee on ‘em. Box turtles have got it figured out.Unfortunately, God did not call us to be box turtles. God called us to be sheep. And sheep aren't to retreat into their shells and block out the world. Sheep are meant to thrive in a flock. And sheep are meant to follow the leading of their shepherd. And whether you're a sheep or a shepherd today, Zechariah 10 is going to help you to know your place.You'll find out what that is today on the God and His Prophets podcast.Watch these episodes at my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LukeTaylorPodcastsNeed to get in touch with me? Reach me at GodAndHisProphetsPodcast@gmail.comIf you're looking for a Bible study podcast that goes deep into the major and minor prophets, God and His Prophets offers a verse by verse Bible study through these powerful Old Testament writings. Each episode explores the prophecy in the Bible, from the Book of Ezekiel study and later in Zechariah, helping listeners in understanding prophetic books and seeing their relevance today. We also connect the prophets' words to end times Bible teaching and highlight connections to Revelation, giving you a Christian Bible commentary that equips you for spiritual insight and growth.

Commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611 by authorization and sponsorship of British King James the First, the King James Bible is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England. Noted for its "majesty of style", the King James Version (KJV) has been described as one of the most important books in English culture and a driving force in the shaping of the English-speaking world. E215. Check out the YouTube version of this episode at https://youtu.be/ElNEfUJckrM which has accompanying visuals including maps, charts, timelines, photos, illustrations, and diagrams. King James Version (KJV) Bibles available at https://amzn.to/3jOQna7 ENJOY Ad-Free content, Bonus episodes, and Extra materials when joining our growing community on https://patreon.com/markvinet SUPPORT this channel by purchasing any product on Amazon using this FREE entry LINK https://amzn.to/3POlrUD (Amazon gives us credit at NO extra charge to you). Mark Vinet's TIMELINE video channel: https://youtube.com/c/TIMELINE_MarkVine Mark's History of North America podcast: www.parthenonpodcast.com/history-of-north-america Website: https://markvinet.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mark.vinet.9 X (twitter): https://twitter.com/MarkVinet_HNA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/denarynovels Mark's books: https://amzn.to/3k8qrGM Audio credits: The Story of the King James Bible with James Naughtie (BBC Radio 4). Audio excerpts reproduced under the Fair Use (Fair Dealings) Legal Doctrine for purposes such as criticism, comment, teaching, education, scholarship, research and news reporting.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Between the Old and New Testaments was a period of about 400 years, often called the Silent Years. Why? Because during this time between Malachi and Matthew, there were no new Scriptural writings given. However, was God entirely silent? I'll say no. There was actually quite a bit of info written during this time; it was just told to us in advance. In fact, there was one really significant world ruler who emerged on the scene during the intertestamental period, and we've all heard about him: Alexander the Great. This man was put into leadership at 20; he conquered virtually all of the known world for Greece by the time he reached the age of 30. Which has always kind of given me a complex. Like, he did all that in his 20s, and I'm over here learning Fortnite dances. If you're 27 years old and you haven't conquered any nations yet- what are you even doing with your life? Right? Alexander the Great actually made quite a name for himself at a young age. And then he quite suddenly and tragically died at the age of 32.But his decade in power reshuffled the landscape of the world. He put an end to the Persians and established the Greek culture, and this had ramifications into the time of the New Testament- which was written in Greek!But as I said, the Bible had already told us about this guy before he even arrived, way back in the Old Testament. And the most fascinating thing of all: Alexander the Great knew it.For real. You'll find out about that today on the God and His Prophets podcast.Watch these episodes at my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LukeTaylorPodcastsNeed to get in touch with me? Reach me at GodAndHisProphetsPodcast@gmail.comIf you're looking for a Bible study podcast that goes deep into the major and minor prophets, God and His Prophets offers a verse by verse Bible study through these powerful Old Testament writings. Each episode explores the prophecy in the Bible, from the Book of Ezekiel study and later in Zechariah, helping listeners in understanding prophetic books and seeing their relevance today. We also connect the prophets' words to end times Bible teaching and highlight connections to Revelation, giving you a Christian Bible commentary that equips you for spiritual insight and growth.

In 362/363 the Roman emperor Julian composed a treatise titled Against the Galileans in which he set forth his reasons for abandoning Christianity and returning to devotion to the traditional Greco-Roman deities. Sixty years later Cyril, bishop of Alexandria, composed a response. His resulting treatise Against Julian would dwarf the size of Julian's original work and in fact serves as our primary source for the fragments of it that have survived. Julian's treatise was the most sophisticated critique of Christianity to have been composed in antiquity and Cyril's rebuttal was equally learned. The Christian bishop not only responded directly to Julian's own words but drew upon a wide range of ancient literature, including poetry, history, philosophy, and religious works to undermine the emperor's critiques of the Christian Bible and bolster the intellectual legitimacy of Christian belief and practice. Cyril of Alexandria: Against Julian, Introduction and Translation (Cambridge UP, 2025) is the first full translation of the work into English. New Books in Late Antiquity is presented by Ancient Jew Review. Matthew Crawford Program Director, Biblical and Early Christian Studies. Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry at Australian Catholic University Aaron Johnson, for the past 15 years, has been teaching at Lee University in Tennessee Michael Motia teaches in Classics and Religious Studies at UMass Boston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Christians who like to study prophecy are often accused of obsessing over charts and graphs. Which, guilty as charged, I guess. I like studying infographics and other ways of communicating complicated information visually.When we study the past, we tend to use charts and graphs to explain what has gone on before us. And when the Bible is clear about the future, I see no problem charting it out. And in my opinion, the Bible is pretty clear about several things that will go down in the future. But if you don't like charts and graphs, don't worry, because today, I'm only going to give you two lines. That's it, two lines. An outline and a timeline.I'll give you an outline of the book of Revelation. And as I do so, you're also going to get a timeline of how the end times play out. And then hopefully you'll understand why I take the book of Revelation, the Second Coming of Christ, and the Millennial Reign of Christ so literally.All that today on the God and His Prophets podcast.Watch these episodes at my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LukeTaylorPodcastsNeed to get in touch with me? Reach me at GodAndHisProphetsPodcast@gmail.comIf you're looking for a Bible study podcast that goes deep into the major and minor prophets, God and His Prophets offers a verse by verse Bible study through these powerful Old Testament writings. Each episode explores the prophecy in the Bible, from the Book of Ezekiel study and later in Zechariah, helping listeners in understanding prophetic books and seeing their relevance today. We also connect the prophets' words to end times Bible teaching and highlight connections to Revelation, giving you a Christian Bible commentary that equips you for spiritual insight and growth.

In 362/363 the Roman emperor Julian composed a treatise titled Against the Galileans in which he set forth his reasons for abandoning Christianity and returning to devotion to the traditional Greco-Roman deities. Sixty years later Cyril, bishop of Alexandria, composed a response. His resulting treatise Against Julian would dwarf the size of Julian's original work and in fact serves as our primary source for the fragments of it that have survived. Julian's treatise was the most sophisticated critique of Christianity to have been composed in antiquity and Cyril's rebuttal was equally learned. The Christian bishop not only responded directly to Julian's own words but drew upon a wide range of ancient literature, including poetry, history, philosophy, and religious works to undermine the emperor's critiques of the Christian Bible and bolster the intellectual legitimacy of Christian belief and practice. Cyril of Alexandria: Against Julian, Introduction and Translation (Cambridge UP, 2025) is the first full translation of the work into English. New Books in Late Antiquity is presented by Ancient Jew Review. Matthew Crawford Program Director, Biblical and Early Christian Studies. Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry at Australian Catholic University Aaron Johnson, for the past 15 years, has been teaching at Lee University in Tennessee Michael Motia teaches in Classics and Religious Studies at UMass Boston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/language

In 362/363 the Roman emperor Julian composed a treatise titled Against the Galileans in which he set forth his reasons for abandoning Christianity and returning to devotion to the traditional Greco-Roman deities. Sixty years later Cyril, bishop of Alexandria, composed a response. His resulting treatise Against Julian would dwarf the size of Julian's original work and in fact serves as our primary source for the fragments of it that have survived. Julian's treatise was the most sophisticated critique of Christianity to have been composed in antiquity and Cyril's rebuttal was equally learned. The Christian bishop not only responded directly to Julian's own words but drew upon a wide range of ancient literature, including poetry, history, philosophy, and religious works to undermine the emperor's critiques of the Christian Bible and bolster the intellectual legitimacy of Christian belief and practice. Cyril of Alexandria: Against Julian, Introduction and Translation (Cambridge UP, 2025) is the first full translation of the work into English. New Books in Late Antiquity is presented by Ancient Jew Review. Matthew Crawford Program Director, Biblical and Early Christian Studies. Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry at Australian Catholic University Aaron Johnson, for the past 15 years, has been teaching at Lee University in Tennessee Michael Motia teaches in Classics and Religious Studies at UMass Boston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/religion

In 362/363 the Roman emperor Julian composed a treatise titled Against the Galileans in which he set forth his reasons for abandoning Christianity and returning to devotion to the traditional Greco-Roman deities. Sixty years later Cyril, bishop of Alexandria, composed a response. His resulting treatise Against Julian would dwarf the size of Julian's original work and in fact serves as our primary source for the fragments of it that have survived. Julian's treatise was the most sophisticated critique of Christianity to have been composed in antiquity and Cyril's rebuttal was equally learned. The Christian bishop not only responded directly to Julian's own words but drew upon a wide range of ancient literature, including poetry, history, philosophy, and religious works to undermine the emperor's critiques of the Christian Bible and bolster the intellectual legitimacy of Christian belief and practice. Cyril of Alexandria: Against Julian, Introduction and Translation (Cambridge UP, 2025) is the first full translation of the work into English. New Books in Late Antiquity is presented by Ancient Jew Review. Matthew Crawford Program Director, Biblical and Early Christian Studies. Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry at Australian Catholic University Aaron Johnson, for the past 15 years, has been teaching at Lee University in Tennessee Michael Motia teaches in Classics and Religious Studies at UMass Boston

In 362/363 the Roman emperor Julian composed a treatise titled Against the Galileans in which he set forth his reasons for abandoning Christianity and returning to devotion to the traditional Greco-Roman deities. Sixty years later Cyril, bishop of Alexandria, composed a response. His resulting treatise Against Julian would dwarf the size of Julian's original work and in fact serves as our primary source for the fragments of it that have survived. Julian's treatise was the most sophisticated critique of Christianity to have been composed in antiquity and Cyril's rebuttal was equally learned. The Christian bishop not only responded directly to Julian's own words but drew upon a wide range of ancient literature, including poetry, history, philosophy, and religious works to undermine the emperor's critiques of the Christian Bible and bolster the intellectual legitimacy of Christian belief and practice. Cyril of Alexandria: Against Julian, Introduction and Translation (Cambridge UP, 2025) is the first full translation of the work into English. New Books in Late Antiquity is presented by Ancient Jew Review. Matthew Crawford Program Director, Biblical and Early Christian Studies. Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry at Australian Catholic University Aaron Johnson, for the past 15 years, has been teaching at Lee University in Tennessee Michael Motia teaches in Classics and Religious Studies at UMass Boston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/christian-studies

When you can see the big picture, it makes it easier to get through the little day-to-day difficulties. We all need that motivation from time to time. We need to refocus on what it is that we're doing here. What's the “big picture” of our Christian walk. And that's what Zechariah 8 is. Zechariah 8 allows us to take a step back and see the big picture. What are we building towards?You'll find out today on the God and His Prophets podcast.Watch these episodes at my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LukeTaylorPodcastsNeed to get in touch with me? Reach me at GodAndHisProphetsPodcast@gmail.comIf you're looking for a Bible study podcast that goes deep into the major and minor prophets, God and His Prophets offers a verse by verse Bible study through these powerful Old Testament writings. Each episode explores the prophecy in the Bible, from the Book of Ezekiel study and later in Zechariah, helping listeners in understanding prophetic books and seeing their relevance today. We also connect the prophets' words to end times Bible teaching and highlight connections to Revelation, giving you a Christian Bible commentary that equips you for spiritual insight and growth.

What does it really mean to be free in Christ? #trinityruston #livedeeper #reachwider Follow us online – https://www.trinityruston.org In this episode of the Going Deeper Podcast, Kyle is joined by Becky and Katie for a conversation about Romans 8, Hebrews 11, 1 John, 1 Corinthians 13, and the practical shape of the Christian life. Together, they talk about why God's boundaries are not meant to limit us, how faith grows even through imperfect people, why Scripture matters for everyday life, and how the light and love of Jesus shine through us when we stay connected to Him. This conversation also touches on parenting, worship, children's ministry, community, and the simple but powerful reminder that we are weak, but He is strong. Scripture discussed: Romans 8, Hebrews 11, 1 John, 1 Corinthians 13 Topics: Freedom in Christ, faith, discipleship, Scripture, parenting, worship, Christian community If this conversation encouraged you, share it with someone who may need the reminder that true freedom is found in Jesus. The Going Deeper Podcast is a ministry of Trinity Methodist Church in Ruston, Louisiana and is designed to help people Learn and apply God's Word in everyday life. Through thoughtful conversation and biblical insight, we explore the larger story of Scripture and how it shapes our faith today. If you want to grow deeper in your understanding of the Bible and your relationship with God, this podcast is for you.  Send an email to askgoingdeeper@gmail.com. Going Deeper is a podcast ministry of Trinity Methodist Church in Ruston, LA, helping us L.I.V.E. by learning and applying God's Word through faithful Christian Bible study and real-life conversation.

Zechariah's 7th chapter contains some shocking words: When I called, they would not listen; so when they called, I would not listen, says the Lord Almighty.Wait- I thought God always listened to our prayers? I thought God always hears us, no matter what? That it was never too late?There are things we can do that can cause God to turn down His volume knob on us. Things we can do that cause God to shut us out. The Bible tells us that there is a sin unto death, that we can deteriorate our relationship with God to a point that He tunes us out, and Zechariah 7 shows us that process. It ends with these words:I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations, where they were strangers. The land they left behind them was so desolate that no one traveled through it. This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.How did things get this bad between God and Israel? And how can I make sure things never get this bad between God and me? You'll find out today on the God and His Prophets podcast.Watch these episodes at my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LukeTaylorPodcastsNeed to get in touch with me? Reach me at GodAndHisProphetsPodcast@gmail.comIf you're looking for a Bible study podcast that goes deep into the major and minor prophets, God and His Prophets offers a verse by verse Bible study through these powerful Old Testament writings. Each episode explores the prophecy in the Bible, from the Book of Ezekiel study and later in Zechariah, helping listeners in understanding prophetic books and seeing their relevance today. We also connect the prophets' words to end times Bible teaching and highlight connections to Revelation, giving you a Christian Bible commentary that equips you for spiritual insight and growth.

From the Garden of Gethsemane to the empty tomb, we walk through the arrest, trial, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus, unpacking what these events mean for us today. #trinityruston #livedeeper #reachwider Follow us online – https://www.trinityruston.org In this episode of Going Deeper, we explore one of the most important questions in the Christian faith: Who did Jesus claim to be—and why does it matter? The Going Deeper Podcast is a ministry of Trinity Methodist Church in Ruston, Louisiana and is designed to help people Learn and apply God's Word in everyday life. Through thoughtful conversation and biblical insight, we explore the larger story of Scripture and how it shapes our faith today. If you want to grow deeper in your understanding of the Bible and your relationship with God, this podcast is for you. Do you have questions for us? Send an email to askgoingdeeper@gmail.com. Going Deeper is a podcast ministry of Trinity Methodist Church in Ruston, LA, helping us L.I.V.E. by learning and applying God's Word through faithful Christian Bible study and real-life conversation.

So many things in the Old Testament Levitical laws pointed forward to actions and characteristics of the future Messiah, Jesus. The passover lamb was a foreshadowing of Jesus; that's why it was killed without any bones being broken, just as Jesus- despite all the things He suffered- had no broken bones. The sabbath rest principle in the 10 commandments was fulfilled by Jesus, who is our sabbath. To sabbath means to do no work; we can do know work to earn our place in heaven because we trust in the work that Jesus did.And even the priesthood itself pointed forward to Jesus. Hebrews 4:14 tells usWe have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God.But wait a minute. The Old Testament priesthood was given specifically to the tribe of Levi. Only Levites could be priests. Yet when God sent the Messiah, He did so through the tribe of Judah.That actually doesn't make much sense, since everything else lines up so perfectly. And it creates a problem- how could the Messiah be our priest if He wasn't from the priestly tribe?The priest was supposed to represent the people before God. The priest offered up the sacrifices to appease God's wrath on sin. And Jesus did that by offering up Himself. We understand, I hope, the significance of all that- except how could Jesus fulfill that part of the Old Testament law if He wasn't qualified to be an Old Testament priest?We'll answer that question today on the God and His Prophets podcast.Watch these episodes at my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LukeTaylorPodcastsNeed to get in touch with me? Reach me at GodAndHisProphetsPodcast@gmail.comIf you're looking for a Bible study podcast that goes deep into the major and minor prophets, God and His Prophets offers a verse by verse Bible study through these powerful Old Testament writings. Each episode explores the prophecy in the Bible, from the Book of Ezekiel study and later in Zechariah, helping listeners in understanding prophetic books and seeing their relevance today. We also connect the prophets' words to end times Bible teaching and highlight connections to Revelation, giving you a Christian Bible commentary that equips you for spiritual insight and growth.

A Google search of “how many versions are there of the Christian bible in English?” resulted in the following result(s), in AI mode.…….“​There are approximately 450 to over 900 English versions, translations, and paraphrases of the Christian Bible available, depending on whether individual revisions are counted. While the American Bible Society notes about 900 printed English translations or paraphrases, Patheos notes over 450 distinct versions. These range from literal (e.g., KJV, ESV) to thought-for-thought (e.g., NIV) and paraphrased (e.g., The Message) translations. Key aspects of English bible versions:​Total Translations: Estimates often cite over 900 versions, including partial translations.​Most Common Versions: Widely used translations in modern English include the New International Version (NIV), English Standard Version (ESV), King James Version (KJV), New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), and New American Standard Bible (NASB).​Types of Translation: Versions are categorized by their approach, such as formal equivalence ("word-for-word") or functional equivalence ("thought-for-thought").History: Since William Tyndale's first English translation in 1526, hundreds of versions have been produced.Distinction: Many versions are actually revisions or updates of previous translations, such as the ESV being a revision of the RSV. ”……We know religion to be a form of worship, and each belief system contains different principles and teachings. Within the Judeo-Christian faiths, these teachings teach us what was believed to be holy or miraculous and what was to be considered abhorrent and sinful.And to think along the lines of “BIGGER than any bibble,” well, that's blasphemy, and we speak heresy.. again, to each their perspective.

Send us Fan MailWisdom isn't a skill you sharpen until you finally “get it.” Job 28 says wisdom is hidden from every living creature, beyond the reach of natural sight, and owned by God alone and that changes how we read Scripture, how we think about the kingdom of God, and how we pray when life falls apart. We walk slowly through Job's argument and then let the Bible interpret the Bible, linking Job to Proverbs, Romans 11, and 1 Corinthians 1. We talk about why creation itself displays God's wisdom, why the fear of the Lord is where wisdom begins, and why the world can hear about wisdom yet still reject it. We also wrestle with a practical tension: if wisdom is outside the natural realm, then we need access to God's realm now, not only in some distant future. Then the conversation lands where it has to land: Jesus Christ. We connect wisdom to Christ as wisdom embodied, and we use the “true vine” picture to show how every spiritual need flows from him, whether it's wisdom, comfort, endurance, joy, or peace. Job's confession “I know that my Redeemer lives” becomes the heartbeat, and it pushes us toward reverence, preparation, and a persistent prayer life that keeps crying out “Abba, Father.” If you've been hungry for biblical wisdom, Holy Spirit clarity, and a deeper Christian Bible study mindset, hit play. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review, then tell us: where do you go when you need wisdom most?Support the showBE PROVOKED AND BE PERSUADED!

Noted for its "majesty of style", the King James Version (KJV) has been described as one of the most important books in English culture and a driving force in the shaping of the English-speaking world, including Canada and the United States. The King James Bible is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by authorization and sponsorship of King James the First. E170. Check out the YouTube version of this episode at https://youtu.be/pWnvERt_ZPw which has accompanying visuals including maps, charts, timelines, photos, illustrations, and diagrams. King James Version (KJV) Bibles available at https://amzn.to/3jOQna7 ENJOY Ad-Free content, Bonus episodes, and Extra materials when joining our growing community on https://patreon.com/markvinet SUPPORT this channel by purchasing any product on Amazon using this FREE entry LINK https://amzn.to/3POlrUD (Amazon gives us credit at NO extra charge to you). Mark Vinet's HISTORICAL JESUS podcast at https://parthenonpodcast.com/historical-jesus Mark's TIMELINE video channel: https://youtube.com/c/TIMELINE_MarkVinet Website: https://markvinet.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mark.vinet.9 Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkVinet_HNA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/denarynovels Mark's books: https://amzn.to/3k8qrGM Audio credits: The Story of the King James Bible with James Naughtie (BBC Radio 4). Audio excerpts reproduced under the Fair Use (Fair Dealings) Legal Doctrine for purposes such as criticism, comment, teaching, education, scholarship, research and news reporting.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is faith about following rules, or having a relationship with God? In this episode of the Going Deeper Podcast, Kyle, Doug, and Melanie explore the stories of Genesis and the messy family dynamics of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. The Bible doesn't hide human flaws, yet through broken people and difficult circumstances we see a faithful God working out His plan. Join us as we discuss forgiveness, surrender, and how God continues to work through imperfect people.   #trinityruston #livedeeper #reachwider   Follow us online – https://www.trinityruston.org   The Going Deeper Podcast is a ministry of Trinity Methodist Church in Ruston, Louisiana and is designed to help people Learn and apply God's Word in everyday life. Through thoughtful conversation and biblical insight, we explore the larger story of Scripture and how it shapes our faith today. If you want to grow deeper in your understanding of the Bible and your relationship with God, this podcast is for you. Do you have questions for us? Send an email to askgoingdeeper@gmail.com. Going Deeper is a podcast ministry of Trinity Methodist Church in Ruston, LA, helping us L.I.V.E. by learning and applying God's Word through faithful Christian Bible study and real-life conversation.

In this episode of Going Deeper, we explore the full story of David—from the courage of Goliath to the failure with Bathsheba—and what it reveals about faith, repentance, and God's grace. #trinityruston #livedeeper #reachwider Follow us online – https://www.trinityruston.org The Going Deeper Podcast is a ministry of Trinity Methodist Church in Ruston, Louisiana and is designed to help people Learn and apply God's Word in everyday life. Through thoughtful conversation and biblical insight, we explore the larger story of Scripture and how it shapes our faith today. If you want to grow deeper in your understanding of the Bible and your relationship with God, this podcast is for you. Do you have questions for us? Send an email to askgoingdeeper@gmail.com. Going Deeper is a podcast ministry of Trinity Methodist Church in Ruston, LA, helping us L.I.V.E. by learning and applying God's Word through faithful Christian Bible study and real-life conversation.

Is faith about following rules, or having a relationship with God? In this episode of the Going Deeper Podcast, Kyle, Doug, and Marie talk about Moses and the Exodus and how God's plan for saving his people reveals how he wants a relationship with his people more than he wants a nation of rule followers. #trinityruston #livedeeper #reachwider Follow us online – https://www.trinityruston.org The Going Deeper Podcast is a ministry of Trinity Methodist Church in Ruston, Louisiana and is designed to help people Learn and apply God's Word in everyday life. Through thoughtful conversation and biblical insight, we explore the larger story of Scripture and how it shapes our faith today. If you want to grow deeper in your understanding of the Bible and your relationship with God, this podcast is for you. Do you have questions for us? Send an email to askgoingdeeper@gmail.com. Going Deeper is a podcast ministry of Trinity Methodist Church in Ruston, LA, helping us L.I.V.E. by learning and applying God's Word through faithful Christian Bible study and real-life conversation.

In this episode of Going Deeper, we explore what it really means to be called by God—and why that calling often feels overwhelming, uncomfortable, and even a little terrifying. #trinityruston #livedeeper #reachwider Follow us online – https://www.trinityruston.org Looking at the stories of Isaiah and Jeremiah, we see two people who didn't feel ready, qualified, or worthy… yet God called them anyway. From Isaiah's “woe is me” moment to Jeremiah's hesitation, we wrestle with the same question today:

What do you really believe about Jesus—and why does it matter? #trinityruston #livedeeper #reachwider Follow us online – https://www.trinityruston.org In this episode of Going Deeper, Kyle and Doug explore the life of Jesus through the Gospels and unpack one of the most important questions anyone can ever answer: Who do you say that Jesus is? From the unique perspectives of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John to the deeply personal nature of faith, this conversation challenges the idea of secondhand belief and invites you into something real and transformative. Whether your faith has been a lifelong journey or a sudden turning point, this episode will help you reflect on what it truly means to follow Jesus. The Going Deeper Podcast is a ministry of Trinity Methodist Church in Ruston, Louisiana and is designed to help people Learn and apply God's Word in everyday life. Through thoughtful conversation and biblical insight, we explore the larger story of Scripture and how it shapes our faith today. If you want to grow deeper in your understanding of the Bible and your relationship with God, this podcast is for you. Do you have questions for us? Send an email to askgoingdeeper@gmail.com. Going Deeper is a podcast ministry of Trinity Methodist Church in Ruston, LA, helping us L.I.V.E. by learning and applying God's Word through faithful Christian Bible study and real-life conversation.

One of the greatest proofs that the Bible is true is that everything it said about Israel is happening right now today.Prophecy said Israel would return as a nation someday. It did.Prophecy said Israel's land would be desolate and them become fruitful again. It has.Prophecy even said itty-bitty Israel would be repeatedly attacked by coalitions of nations bigger than itself, and that they would overcome these attacks every time. And they have.Prophecy said Israel would become a stumbling block for the whole world. It is. You turn on the news or open up a paper and just about every day, it's about news out of Israel. In fact, the United Nations has passed a resolution condemning Israel 10 to 20 times a year ever since its inception. No other country receives that kind of attention. In fact, little itty-bitty Israel about the size of New Jersey in the middle of the desert has received about as many condemnatory resolutions by the United Nations human rights council as all of the other countries in the world combined. Combined.This little nation the Bible said- in the book of Zechariah, in fact- would be a stumbling block for the world. Why is the world like this? You'll find out today on the God and His Prophets podcast.Watch these episodes at my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LukeTaylorPodcastsNeed to get in touch with me? Reach me at GodAndHisProphetsPodcast@gmail.comIf you're looking for a Bible study podcast that goes deep into the major and minor prophets, God and His Prophets offers a verse by verse Bible study through these powerful Old Testament writings. Each episode explores the prophecy in the Bible, from the Book of Ezekiel study and later in Zechariah, helping listeners in understanding prophetic books and seeing their relevance today. We also connect the prophets' words to end times Bible teaching and highlight connections to Revelation, giving you a Christian Bible commentary that equips you for spiritual insight and growth.

Revelation is a pretty dark book, and chapter 17 might be its darkest chapter.John has a vision of a woman riding a beast, and this is meant to communicate to us about the evil religion of the Antichrist.The reason I want to talk about this is that last time, in the book of Zechariah, we studied how God still yet has a plan for Babylon in the end times. What is that plan? Revelation shows us that it will be the capitol of his last days empire. I probably bit off more than I could chew with this one. This is a tough chapter; in fact, I'd say it's probably the hardest chapter to understand in all of Revelation. Which means, we'll just look at one piece at a time and try to put them together as best we can today on the God and His Prophets podcast.Watch these episodes at my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LukeTaylorPodcastsNeed to get in touch with me? Reach me at GodAndHisProphetsPodcast@gmail.comIf you're looking for a Bible study podcast that goes deep into the major and minor prophets, God and His Prophets offers a verse by verse Bible study through these powerful Old Testament writings. Each episode explores the prophecy in the Bible, from the Book of Ezekiel study and later in Zechariah, helping listeners in understanding prophetic books and seeing their relevance today. We also connect the prophets' words to end times Bible teaching and highlight connections to Revelation, giving you a Christian Bible commentary that equips you for spiritual insight and growth.

In this episode of Going Deeper, we begin our study of the Top Ten Bible Stories by exploring Genesis 1–11. Why does the beginning matter? How do creation, chaos, and hope shape the rest of Scripture—and our own lives? Join the conversation as we look at why Genesis still matters today. #trinityruston #livedeeper #reachwider Follow us online – https://www.trinityruston.org In this episode of Going Deeper, we begin our Christian Bible study series on the Top Ten Bible Stories by examining Genesis 1–11—the creation story, the fall, the flood, and the Tower of Babel. These foundational chapters of the Book of Genesis shape the entire story of Scripture, pointing us toward God's work of bringing order out of chaos and ultimately toward Christ. At Trinity Methodist Church, our mission to L.I.V.E. begins with Learning and applying God's Word, and studying Genesis helps us understand who we are, why the world is broken, and how we faithfully respond as stewards of God's story. Whether you are new to Bible study or have read Genesis many times, this conversation invites you to see why the beginning still matters. Do you have questions for us? Send an email to askgoingdeeper@gmail.com. Going Deeper is a podcast ministry of Trinity Methodist Church in Ruston, LA, helping us L.I.V.E. by learning and applying God's Word through faithful Christian Bible study and real-life conversation.

Today we're going to answer one of your burning questions when it comes to Bible study: can angels be girls?OK, that's probably not one of your burning questions. But we will address that today.The main thing we're gonna have to talk about, though, is God's plan for Babylon. You may say: wait, Babylon was destroyed by the Persians, like, 2,500 years ago. Babylon's old news. God even said nobody would ever set foot in it again for forever and ever, that's how irrelevant it is now. So how can you say that Babylon's gonna make a comeback in the end times?Well, it's not just me. John the Revelator said it. And the prophet Zechariah told us that, too.And you'll be saying it after you listen today to the God and His Prophets podcast.Watch these episodes at my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LukeTaylorPodcastsNeed to get in touch with me? Reach me at GodAndHisProphetsPodcast@gmail.comIf you're looking for a Bible study podcast that goes deep into the major and minor prophets, God and His Prophets offers a verse by verse Bible study through these powerful Old Testament writings. Each episode explores the prophecy in the Bible, from the Book of Ezekiel study and later in Zechariah, helping listeners in understanding prophetic books and seeing their relevance today. We also connect the prophets' words to end times Bible teaching and highlight connections to Revelation, giving you a Christian Bible commentary that equips you for spiritual insight and growth.

Exploring the Connection Between Matthew 16 and Nehemiah For BibleInTen.com - By DH, 14th February 2026 Welcome back to Bible in Ten! Today, we have another bonus episode as our daily commentary from CG at the Superior Word rounds off Matthew Chapter 16. Matthew's Gospel contains 28 chapters, and remarkably, it mirrors the first 28 books of the Old Testament as arranged in the Christian Bible. So in this episode, having considered Matthew 16, we'll now look at its fascinating counterpart: Book 16 of the Old Testament-Nehemiah. Nehemiah (נְחֶמְיָה / Nechemyah) means “Yah comforts.” That is appropriate because the whole book is comfort through restoration after judgment. Nehemiah functions as a historical “control text,” showing an established covenant pattern that Matthew 16 then re-presents prophetically (while still being literal history in Jesus' life, confirmed by the other Gospel writers).  Isn't the Word of God Amazing?! Let us now take a look at 12 connections which which support the summary of the chapter as detailed in the previous episode.     Unlike pairings between Matthew 14 with 2 Chronicles—where the correspondence spans a wider sweep of history across multiple dispensational stages—the Matthew 16 / Nehemiah pairing is compressed into a narrower prophetic frame (the tribulation-period restoration conflict) and does not proceed step by step.  The lack of a perfectly locked step-by-step sequence is itself instructive.   In Matthew 14 the picture maps a long, ordered panorama where chronology matters as it spans events across Israel's history from the dispensation of law to and prophetic future carries a clearer, more sequential structure. .. But in the Matthew 16 / Nehemiah pairing—focused on the tribulation—Scripture is not chiefly giving a detailed internal timetable; it is giving the shape of the period.   So lets turn to that shape now with these 12 steps. A Demand for a Sign and the First Opposition Matthew 16 opens with the Pharisees and Sadducees coming together to test Jesus, demanding a “sign from heaven.” It is leadership pressure-religious power trying to control the terms. Nehemiah opens with the same kind of pressure appearing as soon as restoration is announced. When Nehemiah arrives with authorization to rebuild, opposition rises immediately: Sanballat and Tobiah are “grieved” that someone came to seek Israel's good (Nehemiah 2:10). They then laugh and scorn: “What is this thing that ye do?” (2:19) The pattern is consistent: when God moves to restore, the entrenched powers demand proof, challenge legitimacy, and attempt to intimidate the work before it begins. “You Can Read the Sky… But Not the Times” Jesus says they can interpret the sky, but they cannot discern “the signs of the times.” The irony is that the very men claiming insight are the ones blind to what God is doing. Nehemiah carries that same irony in restoration form. The enemies act as if they understand the situation and control the outcome—mocking, threatening, and plotting as though the work will collapse on their schedule. But they do not know what's really happening. Their blindness shows in this: they only learn after the fact that their plan has been uncovered. In Nehemiah —“when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nought…” (Nehemiah 4:15). They thought they were the ones reading the moment, but they were misreading it completely. The builders knew; the enemies did not. And once the plot was exposed, the intimidation lost its power and the work continued. The Sign of Judgment Remembered With the coming of the end times, the leaders of Israel would be expected to understand the situation they are in—but in Matthew 16 they are shown as unable to read it. Jesus calls them “wicked and adulterous” and says no sign will be given except “the sign of the prophet Jonah.” In the previous episode we learned that, Jonah's “Yet forty days” becomes a prophetic template—forty as judgment time—fulfilled in the temple's destruction about forty years after Christ, and then the long exile that followed. The end-times petition is therefore not, “wait for a new sign,” but: look back, read your history through Scripture, and believe. Nehemiah begins with that same mechanism already in place. The “sign” is not in the sky; it is in the city. Jerusalem stands as a covenant witness—broken, burned, and shamed: “the wall of Jerusalem… broken down, and the gates… burned with fire” (Nehemiah 1:3). And crucially, Nehemiah interprets that ruin as meaning—he does not treat it as mere geopolitics. He confesses, “We have dealt very corruptly… and have not kept the commandments” (1:7), and he appeals to what God had already spoken in the Scriptures about scattering for unfaithfulness and gathering upon repentance (1:8-9). Matthew 16 points Israel to a coming historical sign—temple judgment—meant to force a right reading of Scripture and history. Nehemiah opens with an earlier historical sign—Jerusalem in ruins—meant to do the same. In both cases, the issue is not that God failed to leave evidence. The issue is whether the people will stop being “clueless,” read the sign correctly, internalize what it says about their covenant state, and then return to the Lord in true faith. Crossing Over: From Exile-Space to Covenant-Space The movement across the sea of Galilee (and thus the Jordan-line running through it) pictured a spiritual boundary-those “on the other side” needing to come through Christ. Nehemiah is structured around a grand “crossing” of its own: movement from Persia and the regions “beyond the river” into the land where God's name was set. The restoration work begins when Nehemiah leaves the place of worldly security and goes to the place of covenant accountability. Beware the Leaven: Corrupt Influence Inside the People In Matthew 16, Jesus warns of the “leaven” of the Pharisees and Sadducees—doctrine and influence that works invisibly, spreading through the whole lump until everything is affected. The disciples first think He is speaking about bread, but Jesus corrects them: the danger is not what you eat, but what you absorb. Nehemiah gives a historical picture of that same leaven-principle. The enemy does not remain at the gate. He aims for infiltration—to become familiar, acceptable, even respected within the restored community. During the rebuilding, Nehemiah notes that the nobles were already entangled: “For many in Judah were pledged to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shechaniah the son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah.” (Nehemiah 6:18). The leaven isn't merely threat from outside; it is sympathy and alliance forming inside—compromise that feels normal because it comes through “our own people.” And when that leaven is left unchecked, it advances from relationships to residence. In Nehemiah 13, Tobiah is not simply corresponding with leaders—he is granted an actual chamber in the temple precincts (Nehemiah 13:4-9). The unclean influence in its mature form, so that what begins as tolerated association ends as sanctioned presence. This is exactly the warning Matthew 16 carries forward. Don't misread the matter as “bread,” as though the issue were external details. The real danger is the teaching, the partnerships, the slow drift—leavened thinking that spreads through the body while everyone tells themselves nothing serious is happening, until the holy space itself is compromised. Power, Pride, and the Military Temptation Caesarea Philippi was highlighted as a picture-space: Caesar as deified man; Philippi as leaning on the “horse” principle-military pride. Nehemiah's rebuilding occurs under constant threat. The people must be armed while they build.  They work with one hand and hold a weapon with the other (Nehemiah 4:17-18). But Nehemiah carefully frames this: the sword is not their salvation. Their security is God, and vigilance is obedience. Necessary defense exists, but pride in defense is a snare. The people are restored, yet always at risk of trusting the wall more than the Lord. “Who Do You Say That I Am?” and the Community's Confession In Matthew 16, we have the God assisted confession: “You are the Christ.” Nehemiah contains an extended sequence where Israel is restored not merely by masonry but by identity-confession through God's Word: “So they read from the Book of the Law of God, explaining it and giving insight, so that the people could understand what was being read.” (Nehemiah 8:8). This leads into confession of sin and confession of God's faithfulness (Nehemiah 9). In the Matthew framework: end-times Jews become true “hearers”- not merely readers of signs, but confessors of what the signs meant. 8. Kingdom-Order, and Covenant Enrollment In Matthew 16, everything turns on identity and confession. Israel can offer many assessments of Jesus—prophet, teacher, threat—but the end-times remnant is identified as those who follow Peter's confession: “You are the Christ.” After this, Jesus blesses Peter with a name that ties back to the only sign granted—Bar-Jonah, “son of Jonah.” In other words, Peter typifies the Jews who have heard the sign of Jonah, interpreted their own history rightly, and therefore confess the Messiah they once missed. That confession marks them out as the out-called, and it is on that proclamation that Christ speaks of kingdom entry—the granting of the keys. Nehemiah provides an Old Covenant “control text” for that same movement: a remnant comes to understanding, confession, and then formalized belonging. After the Scriptures are read and the national confession is made (Nehemiah 8-9), the people do not remain in mere emotion or general agreement. They move into enrollment—a defined act of covenant identity: “And because of all this, we make a sure covenant and write it; our leaders, our Levites, and our priests seal it” (Nehemiah 9:38; detailed in chapter 10). Names are written. Allegiance is publicly owned. Commitments and boundaries are stated. And the Hebrew meaning of these written names themselves bear connection to tribulation period events described in Revelation. In typology terms, Nehemiah shows a keys-of-the-kingdom counterpart in historical form, a concrete act of authorized inclusion into a defined covenant community. As Bar-Jonah represents those who finally hear and identify the true Messiah, the sealed covenant in Nehemiah represents those who finally own and enter the restored order. 9. A Messiah Who Must Suffer: The Offense of God's Way In Matthew 16, Peter stumbles over the suffering plan. The moment Jesus speaks openly about rejection, suffering, and death, Peter tries to correct Him—and Jesus rebukes him sharply. The warning is against demanding a triumphant, expectation-shaped messiah while rejecting the true Messiah as God presents Him—first crucified, then glorified. Nehemiah provides the historical control picture of that same offense. Restoration there advances through obedience under scorn. The workers are mocked (Nehemiah 4:1-3), threatened (4:7-8), and worn down by discouragement (4:10). Yet the work moves forward because they refuse the “easy” path of retreat, silence, or compromise. That is the typological connection: Peter's impulse—“this shall not happen to You”—is the human instinct to reject a deliverance that comes through suffering. Nehemiah's remnant models the opposite posture: they accept that God often brings vindication after humiliation.   10. Deny Yourself: The Cost of Faithfulness Under Pressure In Matthew 16, Jesus' call to deny yourself is not abstract spirituality—it is a demand for costly allegiance. In the end-times picture drawn, it means refusing the survival-instinct that compromises truth, and choosing fidelity to Christ even when it carries temporary loss. Nehemiah provides a clear historical control of that same principle. He refuses the governor's allowance—he will not enrich himself at the people's expense: “I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor” (Nehemiah 5:14-19).  In both cases the work of God is advanced by those willing to serve faithfully even when they could have claimed their rights. Vindication: God's Work Revealed Before Enemies Matthew 16 ends with the thought of the Son of Man coming in glory with His messengers-a public unveiling of reality. Nehemiah contains a miniature version of that unveiling: The wall is finished, and the enemies “perceived that this work was wrought of our God” (Nehemiah 6:15-16). The point is the pattern: endurance, completion, public recognition that God did it, not man. What is done in faith is later shown to have been of God. A Remnant Standing at the End Some will make it through the tribulation without tasting death when they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom. In Nehemiah, the “standing remnant” idea is stated in the narrative milestones that mark survival through the entire pressure campaign to the realized outcome. They survive to completion: “So the wall was finished…” (Nehemiah 6:15). They survive the intimidation campaign and remain in place: after the plot is exposed and collapses, the work continues and the enemies are put to shame (Nehemiah 6:16). They transition from building under threat to ordered life in the city: once the wall is finished, “the doors were set up,” gatekeepers and Levites are appointed, and watch is established (Nehemiah 7:1-3). They are still there as a gathered people at the end of the building phase: “all Israel dwelt in their cities… and all the people gathered themselves together as one man” (Nehemiah 7:73-8:1). They move from completion to public dedication: “at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem…” (Nehemiah 12:27), culminating in corporate worship and rejoicing (Nehemiah 12:43). Nehemiah doesn't just end with “a wall.” It ends with a preserved community—still present, still assembled, moving from survival under pressure (6:15-16) into established order (7:1-3), unified gathering (7:73-8:1), and dedication/worship (12:27, 43). So the narrative picture of a remnant standing is explicit: some make it through, and they stand in what God established. CONCLUSION: Why This is Controlled Typology In Nehemiah, the question is: Will the returned people truly become God's people again-by truth, separation, and covenant fidelity-rather than by mere structure? In Matthew 16, the question becomes sharper and final: Will Israel discern what their own history meant, reject leavened leadership, confess the true Messiah, accept the suffering plan, and endure to the kingdom? Nehemiah gives the Old Covenant restoration pattern in history. Matthew 16 gives the New Covenant restoration petition in prophecy-picture-centered entirely on Jesus: who He is, what He must do, and what His people must endure in the tribulation period. Nehemiah rebuilds a wall around a city.  Matthew 16 reveals the confession upon which Christ builds His out-calling. Lord God, we thank You for Your word-holy, faithful, and true. Give us discernment for the times we live in. Guard us from leaven-quiet compromise, false teaching, and fear-driven counsel that sounds spiritual but serves another master.  Strengthen us to bear reproach, to deny ourselves, and to endure faithfully until Your purposes are complete.  And may all our confidence rest not in walls, not in strength, not in man-but in the name of the Lord our God. Amen.

"You can be humbled or you can be humiliated."Zechariah has a vision that reminds us: your sins will find you out. The things we've tried to hide deep down have a way of finding their way to the surface. And it's always better to humble yourself than to need God do it for you.Watch these episodes at my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LukeTaylorPodcastsNeed to get in touch with me? Reach me at GodAndHisProphetsPodcast@gmail.comIf you're looking for a Bible study podcast that goes deep into the major and minor prophets, God and His Prophets offers a verse by verse Bible study through these powerful Old Testament writings. Each episode explores the prophecy in the Bible, from the Book of Ezekiel study and later in Zechariah, helping listeners in understanding prophetic books and seeing their relevance today. We also connect the prophets' words to end times Bible teaching and highlight connections to Revelation, giving you a Christian Bible commentary that equips you for spiritual insight and growth.

In this episode, I go through Hebrews 13:5-6, which says (ESV), "5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”"There are three big takeaways from this text that I discuss:(1) We should make sure that our life and character is free from the love of money.(2) We should, instead of having a love for money and more money, be content with what we have, with what God has blessed us with.(3) As a remedy for the love of money, we should trust in the Lord, who has promised never to forsake us.I hope this episode, which was inspired by a Sunday school lesson I recently taught, will be a blessing to you.#Christian #Bible #biblestudy #Scripture #ChristianTeaching #faith #christianlife #christianpodcast #money --------------------------------LINKS---------------------------------Science Faith & Reasoning podcast link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/science-faith-reasoning Coffee with John Calvin Podcast link (An SFR+ Production hosted by Daniel Faucett) https://open.spotify.com/show/5UWb8SavK17HO8ERorHPYN Learning the Fundaments (An SFR+ Production hosted by Shepard Merritt): https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/shep304/ -----------------------------CONNECT------------------------------https://www.scifr.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sciencefaithandreasoning X: https://twitter.com/SFRdaily

In Genesis 42, we witness a powerful moment: Joseph's brothers, more than 20 years after their betrayal, are still crushed under the weight of their sin. Their guilt shapes their decisions, their fears, and even their understanding of God's discipline. This chapter reveals a deep truth—sin leaves a heavy burden that time alone cannot erase.This teaching explores how Scripture describes the crushing weight of unconfessed sin and the freedom God offers through Christ.What This Message Covers1. The Lingering Guilt in Genesis 42Joseph's brothers still feel the consequences of their sin decades laterHow guilt distorts our thinking and relationshipsWhy unresolved sin becomes a lifelong burden2. The Weight of Sin in the PsalmsPsalm 38 describes sin as a weight “too heavy to bear”Psalm 32 shows the physical and emotional toll of hidden sinDavid's journey from silence and suffering to confession and freedom3. Jesus Carries the Weight We CannotIsaiah 53 reveals the Suffering Servant who bore our griefs and carried our sorrowsChrist takes the crushing load of sin we were never meant to carry4. The Invitation of Jesus in Matthew 11“My yoke is easy, and My burden is light”How Jesus replaces the weight of guilt with rest, grace, and peaceKey ThemesThe heaviness of guiltThe danger of unconfessed sinGod's mercy in exposing what we hideJesus as the burden‑bearerTrue rest found only in ChristKeywordsGenesis 42 explained, Joseph and his brothers, weight of sin sermon, Psalm 38 teaching, Psalm 32 confession, Isaiah 53 prophecy of Jesus, Matthew 11 yoke is easy, Christian Bible study, burden of guilt, forgiveness in Christ, Old Testament foreshadowing Jesus, gospel message, Bible teaching on sin and grace

In Revelation 11, we read about two figures who show up near the end of the world and prophesy about God in Jerusalem.Revelation 11:3 says - "And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth."These mysterious two men are never named, and that's resulted in 2000 years now of speculation as to their identities.They demonstrate supernatural powers, such as the ability to call down fire from heaven, bringing plagues upon the earth, and they even die and rise again- and it's all gonna be on TikTok. The whole world is going to be clued in on what these guys are doing and saying.But who are they? Let's study and speculate about these two superstuds of the end times - today on the God and His Prophets podcast.Watch these episodes at my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LukeTaylorPodcastsNeed to get in touch with me? Reach me at GodAndHisProphetsPodcast@gmail.comIf you're looking for a Bible study podcast that goes deep into the major and minor prophets, God and His Prophets offers a verse by verse Bible study through these powerful Old Testament writings. Each episode explores the prophecy in the Bible, from the Book of Ezekiel study and later in Zechariah, helping listeners in understanding prophetic books and seeing their relevance today. We also connect the prophets' words to end times Bible teaching and highlight connections to Revelation, giving you a Christian Bible commentary that equips you for spiritual insight and growth.

Exploring the Connection Between Matthew 15 and Ezra For BibleInTen.com - By DH, 17th January 2026 Welcome back to Bible in Ten!     Today, we have another bonus episode as our daily commentary from the Superior Word closes out Matthew Chapter 15. Matthew's Gospel contains 28 chapters, and remarkably, it mirrors the first 28 books of the Old Testament as arranged in the Christian Bible. So in this episode, having concluded our walk through Matthew 15, we'll now look at its fascinating counterpart: Book 15 of the Old Testament-Ezra. Please do check the last episode to see how Chapter 15 of Matthew gives a picture of what is going on in the world from the time Jesus fulfilled the law until the rapture. The verses, though literally occurring at the time of Jesus, point to truths after the completion of Jesus' ministry. Authority from Jerusalem  Matthew 15 opens with scribes and Pharisees coming from Jerusalem to challenge Jesus. Jerusalem represents authority still bound to Sinai. Ezra came from Babylon to Jerusalem as a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses. That was necessary then. But Matthew 15 shows what happens after the Law has been fulfilled. The authority remains -  but the life is gone. Paul explains this tension in Galatians: “Jerusalem which now is… is in bondage with her children.” The challenge to Jesus does not come from pagans -   but from Law-bound religion. 2. Tradition Replacing God's Word  In verses 2 through 9,  Jesus exposes the condition of Israel. They honor God with lips, but their hearts are far away. Ezra saw the same problem. Israel had returned from exile. The Temple was rebuilt. But the heart problem remained. Ezra tore his garments and confessed: “After all that has come upon us… should we again break Your commandments?” External obedience never cured internal rebellion. Matthew 15 shows that the problem has hardened. 3. Where Defilement Truly Comes From  Jesus says: “What goes into the mouth does not defile a man, but what comes out of it.” This is more than food. It is proclamation. Israel refuses to confess Jesus. Paul later explains: “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart… you will be saved.” Defilement is not ritual failure. It is rejecting the Rock. Ezra spoke of a land defiled by peoples and practices. Jesus reveals the deeper truth - defilement flows from the heart outward. 4. Blind Leaders and Separation  Jesus then says something severe: “Let them alone.” Blind leaders. Blind followers. Ezra enforced physical separation. Jesus declares spiritual separation. Same judgment. Different stage of history. The Law has reached its limit. 5. A Turn Toward the Gentiles  Verse 21 is pivotal. Jesus goes out from there to Tyre and Sidon. Ezra's restoration preserved Israel. Jesus now expands the promise. Tyre means Rock. Sidon means Fishery and fish relates to increase. Israel abandoned their Rock. The nations who receive Him will increase. A Canaanite woman approaches - humbled, persistent, faithful. Ezra allowed Gentiles who separated from uncleanness to join Israel. Jesus reveals the heart of that principle. Faith, not bloodline, is the door. 6. Bread, Crumbs, and Faith Jesus speaks of children's bread. The woman doesn't argue. She trusts. “Even the crumbs are enough.” This is not rebellion against Israel. It is trust in Israel's Messiah. Ezra guarded the holy vessels carefully. Jesus shows that grace is not diminished by sharing. Faith gathers what Law could only preserve. 7. The Mountain and the Multitudes  Jesus ascends a mountain near the Sea of Galilee - Liberty. A great gathering forms. Ezra gathered Israel to restore covenant order. Jesus gathers the nations under Himself. Broken people come. They are healed. And Matthew records something unique: “They glorified the God of Israel.” The Gentiles now do what Israel was called to do. Paul later says: “That the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy.” 8. Bread, Fulness, and Preservation  The feeding of the four thousand follows. Three days. Divine fullness. Seven loaves. Spiritual completeness. Four thousand - the world number. Ezra preserved what was holy by careful accounting. Jesus preserves what is holy by abundance. Seven large baskets remain. Nothing is lost. The fullness of the Gentiles comes in while Israel remains partially blinded. 9. Toward the Tower of God The chapter ends with a quiet note. Jesus goes to Magdala - Migdal-El, the Tower of God. Not Babel. Not the tower of man. Ezra ended with restored order. Matthew 15 points toward final deliverance. Ezra shows us what faithfulness under the Law looked like. Matthew 15 shows us what happens when grace takes the field. The Rock rejected by Israel becomes the foundation of the nations. CONCLUSION Ezra supports the typological interpretation of Matthew 15 because it provides the historical “control text” that shows Matthew follows an existing biblical pattern.    The reason Ezra confirms the typological reading of Matthew 15 is that Ezra provides the final Old Covenant pattern.   Matthew typologically provides the New Covenant pattern. In Ezra, Israel is restored to the land, the Law is fully reinstated, scribal authority is established, separation is enforced, and a remnant is preserved - yet the heart problem remains unresolved. Matthew 15 follows that same sequence in order: authority from Jerusalem, Law elevated through tradition, defilement exposed, separation declared, a preserved remnant, and then a movement beyond Israel to the Gentiles. The difference is that what Ezra preserves under the Law, Jesus resolves through Himself. Because Matthew follows Ezra's structure rather than inventing a new one, the typology is not imaginative - it is controlled, historical, and intentional. Matthew 15 is not merely a series of confrontations, healings, and feedings, nor is it simply a lesson about religious hypocrisy or personal faith, as it is often reduced to in casual teaching. Rather, it is also a picture of what is going on in the world from the time Jesus fulfilled the law until the rapture. What Ezra records historically - Israel restored under the Law, preserved through separation, yet still bound by the limitations of Sinai - Jesus reveals prophetically. Matthew 15 walks through that same reality step by step: Jerusalem-based authority bound to tradition, a people near in speech but distant in heart, blindness leading blindness, separation declared, and then a decisive movement outward to the nations. Ezra preserves a remnant under the Law. Jesus gathers a people by grace. Ezra safeguards holiness through consolidation and exclusion. Jesus reveals holiness through mercy, healing, and abundance. Seen together, these chapters show that Matthew 15 is not simply about what happened on a particular day in Galilee, but about what God has been doing in redemptive history from the close of the Old Covenant to the fullness of the New. It is the Law reaching its limit and Christ stepping into that space - not to abolish what came before, but to fulfill it. Matthew 15, read through Ezra, becomes a sweeping retelling of Israel's restoration, its partial blindness, the inclusion of the Gentiles, and the preservation of God's people - all centered on the person of Jesus Christ, the true Rock, the Bread of Life, and the Lord of the harvest. Lord God, we thank You for Your word - holy, faithful, and true. We confess that it is easy to handle Scripture carelessly, to bend it toward our own ideas, or to use it as a tool rather than receive it as a gift. Guard our hearts from pride. Guard us from turning truth into tradition and obedience into self-righteousness. Teach us to read Your word with reverence, to see Christ where You have revealed Him, and to submit ourselves to what You have spoken. May Your grace reach deeper than our habits, deeper than our defenses, and deeper than our fears. And may our lives reflect not just knowledge of Your law, but the transforming mercy found in Jesus Christ our Lord. To Your glory alone. Amen.   Before we close this episode, we want to share something very simple and very personal. The following song was made up and sung by our Gracie when she could barely speak. She created the words herself and sang it from her heart. It's hard to understand in places, and it's certainly not theologically precise - but that's actually part of why it feels so fitting here. In Matthew 15, Jesus reminds us that what truly matters is not polished words, tradition, or perfect expression, but the heart. This little song isn't about getting everything right; it's about love, trust, and a heart turned toward Jesus. So we'll let it stand just as it is - imperfect, sincere, and honest - a small reminder that faith begins in the heart even before it can be explained. >>>> Grace sings “I love you Jesus” >>>> 

In this episode of God and His Prophets, we walk verse-by-verse through Zechariah 4, the fifth of Zechariah's night visions. At the center of the vision stands a golden lampstand fed by two olive trees—an image packed with meaning about the Holy Spirit's power, God's faithfulness, and how His work is accomplished.This chapter delivers one of Scripture's most quoted truths:“Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.”The vision was given to Zerubbabel, the governor charged with rebuilding Jerusalem after the exile, at a time when the task felt overwhelming and progress painfully slow. God's message is clear: the work will be finished—not through human effort or strength—but through divine empowerment.Along the way, we explore discouragement, small beginnings, perseverance, and how God supplies exactly what His servants need to complete the work He assigns.Watch these episodes at my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LukeTaylorPodcastsNeed to get in touch with me? Reach me at GodAndHisProphetsPodcast@gmail.comIf you're looking for a Bible study podcast that goes deep into the major and minor prophets, God and His Prophets offers a verse by verse Bible study through these powerful Old Testament writings. Each episode explores the prophecy in the Bible, from the Book of Ezekiel study and later in Zechariah, helping listeners in understanding prophetic books and seeing their relevance today. We also connect the prophets' words to end times Bible teaching and highlight connections to Revelation, giving you a Christian Bible commentary that equips you for spiritual insight and growth.

I don't think you should listen to this episode when it comes out. I mean, it's a good episode but god if it isn't January 9th 2026 and the world's one fire and everywhere you look some horrible shit is happening and that is this fucking movie in a nutshell. This movie is horrible shit happening for two plus solid hours and it feels like a nightmare and when you run out of animes to take plot and shot details from, you gotta move on to the Christian Bible.It's Mother! and it's a fucking ride. Buckle up.Who's responsible for this?Director: Darren Arren!Writers: Darren Arren again!Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle PfeiffersWhat do we recommend?Jude - Climax, The Others, Islands of AbandonmentEmily- Esoterica, Antichrist, Last Temptation of the Christ, Transcending ComicsBen - Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on a Serious EarthJeremy - Requiem for a Dream, KnightridersTake our listener survey: http://bit.ly/progressivelyhorrified-surveySign up to support Progressively Horrified on Patreon for as little as $5 a month and get bonus episodes! https://www.patreon.com/c/progressivelyhorrified Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

(This is a sermon I preached earlier this year at First Assembly of God in Carl Junction)There is so much to pick apart in Balaam's story. There are a lot more strange things going on than just a talking donkey.For example, in the first chapter where Balaam appears, he does exactly what God says, and then it says that God wanted to kill him for it.  Some men approached Balaam and asked him to curse the Israelites for them, and here's what it said:Numbers 22:20-2220 And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only do what I tell you.” 21 So Balaam rose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab.So far so good, right? God says go. Balaam goes. 22 But God's anger was kindled because he went, and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the way as his adversary.It will even say later that this angel of the Lord was standing there to literally kill Balaam! But why- wasn't Balaam doing exactly what God wanted? That's the question we're going to analyze in this message.Watch these episodes at my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LukeTaylorPodcastsNeed to get in touch with me? Reach me at GodAndHisProphetsPodcast@gmail.comIf you're looking for a Bible study podcast that goes deep into the major and minor prophets, God and His Prophets offers a verse by verse Bible study through these powerful Old Testament writings. Each episode explores the prophecy in the Bible, from the Book of Ezekiel study and later in Zechariah, helping listeners in understanding prophetic books and seeing their relevance today. We also connect the prophets' words to end times Bible teaching and highlight connections to Revelation, giving you a Christian Bible commentary that equips you for spiritual insight and growth.

Psalm 148:7-14, Nehemiah 9:1-37, Revelation 19:11-21. The idea of covenant is so important in the Christian Bible that the two parts came to be called the Old and the New *Testaments* (‘*Testamentum'* being the Latin word for *covenant*) Although the new covenant was different from the old one, both covenants come from God's abounding love for you

Psalm 148:11-14, Nehemiah 9:6-28, Revelation 19:11-20. The idea of covenant is so important in the Christian Bible that the two parts came to be called the Old and the New *Testaments* (‘*Testamentum'* being the Latin word for *covenant*) Although the new covenant was different from the old one, both covenants come from God's abounding love for you

Joy to the World, the Lord is come, let earth receive her king.We sing those words every Christmas, but did you know those lyrics are not about when Jesus came into this world? Not the first time, anyway.That's a song about the Second Coming of Christ- when Jesus returns to take over as King of the World, when for a thousand years He rules the world with truth and grace.We're gonna learn about what we can expect when Jesus comes back today on the God and His Prophets podcast.Watch these episodes at my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LukeTaylorPodcastsNeed to get in touch with me? Reach me at GodAndHisProphetsPodcast@gmail.comIf you're looking for a Bible study podcast that goes deep into the major and minor prophets, God and His Prophets offers a verse by verse Bible study through these powerful Old Testament writings. Each episode explores the prophecy in the Bible, from the Book of Ezekiel study and later in Zechariah, helping listeners in understanding prophetic books and seeing their relevance today. We also connect the prophets' words to end times Bible teaching and highlight connections to Revelation, giving you a Christian Bible commentary that equips you for spiritual insight and growth.

How do you handle it when a Christian friend is starting to drift away from the faith?How do you navigate tricky issues like when to say something, and how forceful about it to be?And most importantly: does the Bible give us any guidance about this sticky subject?I am happy to say: YES, yes it does- in fact, the book of Zechariah is going to help get us there- and you'll find out what it says today on the God and His Prophets podcast.Watch these episodes at my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LukeTaylorPodcastsNeed to get in touch with me? Reach me at GodAndHisProphetsPodcast@gmail.comIf you're looking for a Bible study podcast that goes deep into the major and minor prophets, God and His Prophets offers a verse by verse Bible study through these powerful Old Testament writings. Each episode explores the prophecy in the Bible, from the Book of Ezekiel study and later in Zechariah, helping listeners in understanding prophetic books and seeing their relevance today. We also connect the prophets' words to end times Bible teaching and highlight connections to Revelation, giving you a Christian Bible commentary that equips you for spiritual insight and growth.

This episode of the Tikvah Podcast might be the first dedicated entirely to Christian theology. Why would a Jewish podcast devote so much attention to a theological debate that took place among Christians in the 2nd century? First, because it contributed to the canonization of Christian scripture and defined forever the Christian attitude toward the Hebrew Bible. But more importantly, because we are witnessing today the reemergence of some of the very ideas that the Church fathers of that time declared heretical. The figure at the center of this conversation is a Christian thinker name Marcion, who lived from 85 to 160 CE. He taught that there were not one but two gods: the creator God of the Hebrew Bible—a violent, vengeful, tribal demiurge—and the true God that is revealed to humankind by Jesus. To Marcion, the Christian God alone is a God of love and mercy. Therefore, he concluded, Christianity should detach itself entirely from the Hebrew Bible. Most people have heard some version of the idea that the Hebrew God is vindictive, unforgiving, and particularistic, and that the Christian God teaches grace and mercy. But the notion that they're radically distinct has now returned. The prominent Internet talk-show host Tucker Carlson has spoken on numerous occasions about disconnecting the Hebrew Bible from the New Testament. On the August 25, 2025 episode of his show, he explained that he had just read what Christians called the Old Testament and "was pretty shocked by—as I think many people who read it are—by the violence in it, and shocked by the revenge in it, the genocide in it." Then, in conversation with Megyn Kelly on November 6, he said that "Western civilization is derived from the New Testament. It is based on Christian ethics. And the core difference between the West and the rest of the world—not just Israel but every other country—is that we don't believe in collective punishment because we don't believe in blood guilt." It's important to draw a distinction between Marcionism and the doctrine of supersessionism, historically accepted by some Christian theologians. Supersessionism claims that God's covenant with Israel has been replaced, or superseded, by the universal redemption brought about by Jesus. Marcion, by contrast, says something else: that the God who established a covenant with the children of Israel is not the same as the Christian God at all, but a lesser, wicked deity. The idea that the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament are motivated by different ethics and aim at different moral teachings is not especially controversial. After all, that is a conventional Jewish understanding of the New Testament. But the early church fathers decisively rejected Marcion's ideas: both his dualism and his attempt to remove the story of Israel from the Christian Bible. One, Tertullian, wrote five books refuting him. Another foundational Christian thinker, Irenaeus, declared Marcion a heretic. By rejecting his teachings, Christianity made a defining choice to accept that the God of creation and the God of Christian redemption are, for Christians, one and the same. And because one of the most popular anti-Jewish voices is sounding some of those very notes right now, a deeper, Christian context seems necessary to help Jews understand the nature of the new assault against them. To this end, the Christian philosopher R.J. Snell joins Mosaic's editor Jonathan Silver to explain that context. Snell is the director of academic programs at Princeton University's Witherspoon Institute and the editor in chief of its publication, Public Discourse. He delves into what Marcion believed, why the church rejected him, and what was at stake in that rejection—then and now.

Everyone is familiar with the Bible—after all, it’s still the best-selling book in the world. But just exactly how did we get the collection of sixty-six books that make up God’s Word? Join us today as we discover the differences and similarities between the Jewish holy books and the Christian Bible. Learn how the New Testament writings were copied and collected, including the apocryphal gospels and letters, and the purposes of modern Bible translations and the differences between them.Become a Parshall Partner: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/inthemarket/partnersSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode we interview Reverend Darren who is a minister in the Presbyterian Church USA in Wisconsin.  This conversation started as a text and google doc exchange around the story of Amalek within the Old Testament of the Christian Bible and the Tanakh, or the Hebrew Bible. We talk about how we should understand the relationship between these biblical stories and documented history, their relationship to the Gaza genocide, and how we might fit our analyses of these narratives into the relationship between US imperialism and zionism. Along the way, Darren engages with questions of faith practice, the relative absence - and silence - of particularly Euro-American liberal Christian congregations among those standing in defense of Palestinian lives, and Palestinian sovereignty. Darren also discusses how the gears of US fascism - called for in documents like Project 2025 and Project Esther, and being enacted through the Trump administration - are being lubricated by the absurd and ethically vacuous nature of US liberalism.  A couple things to mention, this conversation was recorded 10 days ago, so the 8th year anniversary episode we mentioned is currently out on our YouTube channel. In addition to reflections from Josh and myself, it featured special appearances from Stefano Harney, Renee Johnston, Fred Moten, Sina Rahmani, and Lara Sheehi This episode was also recorded before the 2nd anniversary of Tufan Al Aqsa and before the ceasefire agreement. We have episodes on the YouTube channel about those developments as well, one putting Abdaljawad Omar and Lara Sheehi in conversation together and the other with Nora Barrows-Friedman from Electronic Intifada and Sina Rahmani from the East is a Podcast. As always the absolute best way to support us and to help us continue to sustain our work and hopefully grow as a project is to become a patron of the show or support us through our BuyMeACoffee page. Shout-out to all the people who gave us a little something for our 8th anniversary. Related conversations: "The Book of Genocide" Nick Estes w/ Justin Podur  "The Crusades: Then & Now" MAKC with Adnan Husain "Christian ZIonism & Zionist Settler Colonial Ideology" MAKC with Adnan Husain The original cover image (slightly re-colored) is available here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Phillip_Medhurst_Picture_Torah_423._Joshua_fighting_Amalek._Exodus_cap_17_vv_10%2613._Galle.jpg

I feel we are experiencing a schizophrenic time in our culture where we adamantly believe in our opinions and perspectives, but we have very little true belief in ourselves. We are increasingly insecure and fragile and thus offended and threatened by everything. People seem scared of other people and I'm concerned it belies an innate fear of themselves as well. I grew up entrenched in the Christian Bible which called us to “love our neighbor as ourselves.” But what if one does not…love themselves? Can we loathe ourselves and really love anyone authentically? In this podcast I sat down with Dr. Wendi Zimmer. Wendi is a #1 bestselling author, mindset expert, professor at Texas A&M University, educational consultant, and the owner of Learning Engaged. Wendi has her own story of struggling with imposter syndrome and self-doubt for many years. She ultimately developed a system to shift her mindset through a concept of self-belief and now spends her time guiding others to do the same. Her new book is titled, Force Continuum: How to Shift Your Mindset to Transform Your Life. A main structure that we walk and talk through is 1) Mindset - what do you want to believe about yourself? 2) Identity - How do you want to be seen? 3) Habits - what do you need to do to get what you want? and 4) Energy - what do you want to spend your time doing? I felt this was a very practical concept on auditing the key areas of our lives and tactfully addressing our mindset. Sign up for your $1/month trial period at shopify.com/kevin Go to shipstation.com and use code KEVIN to start your free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices