Genesis establishes the context for understanding who God is, what it means to be human in the creation, and God’s plan to rescue the creation through Abraham. In Exodus, the new creation motif that began with the patriarchs in Genesis becomes more...
The content of this post is to be published in a forthcoming volume by the Francis Asbury Press. This post will only be temporarily available at mattayars.com All rights reserved. The first time the word “holy” (Heb. qōdeš) appears in the...
As a teacher, it’s important that I assess students. I have to keep them accountable to what they need to learn. There are all sorts of assessment tools out there. There are essays, projects, quizzes, tests, and so on. The purpose of these is for me...
There are loads of genealogies in the Bible. The book of Genesis is structured around genealogies (ten genealogies, in particular). The opening chapters of 1 Chronicles is simply a multifaceted genealogy accounting for the families of the Jewish...
The book of Psalms reminds us that our purest theology comes out in worship, in the creative expression of the believer. Humans are creative beings. Being Image bearers means that it is not only humanity that is creative, but God as well. Humanity...
Next week is the most important week in the history of the world. Next week commemorates the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. These are the events that changed the world forever. So, what are the events of this week all about? Why did Jesus...
Leaven, or yeast, comes up a lot in the Bible. We first see it in the story of the exodus when God tells Israel not to put leaven in their bread the night before He delivers them from the captivity in Egypt (Ex. 12). God further explains to Moses...
There’s a strange story in the Old Testament about when the Philistines—the enemies of the Israelites—stole the Ark of the Covenant after a battle. After they stole the Ark—a wooden box that symbolized the presence of the God of Israel—they put it...