Theology Thursday

* Ecclesiastes: Without a teacher, men struggle to make sense of backslidden Solomon's book of Ecclesiastes, which says: All is vanity. What is crooked cannot be made straight. Man has no advantage over animals for all go to one place. Nothing is better than that a man should rejoice in his own works. So I praised the dead more than the living. Yet, better than both is he who has never existed. One good man among a thousand I have found, but a woman among all these I have not found. A man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry. Drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has already accepted your works. 

This study will help you to unravel the Ecclesiastes conundrum and appreciate the compelling love story of the Song of Songs (also called the Song of Solomon). The Shulamite spurns Solomon, despising a place among his harem of wives and concubines, while remaining faithful to her inaccessible true love. This Song illustrates the believer holding fast to his love for God in spite of the lures of the world. 
Available on MP3-CD or download.

* 2 Kings: The divided kingdom is symptomatic of Israel's separation from God. In the northern kingdom, the prophet Elijah passing on the mantle of his ministry, along with a double blessing from God, to Elisha. With the defeat of Moab, and the mocking of Syria's blinded army, God's covenant people had opportunity after opportunity to thrive. Instead, their sin brought judgment. Ahab's sons were killed after his wicked widow Jezebel was thrown out of a window to her death. In the southern kingdom of Judah, the sole surviving son of the royal family became king, but eventually Joash too was murdered. After Elisha died, Israel and Judah fought, with rampant paganism in the north so weakening the ten tribes that they were carried carried away captive by the Assyrians. Meanwhile down south, the more benevolent reigns of kings like Azariah, Jotham, Hezekiah, and Josiah only postponed God's judgment until Nebuchadnezzar carried away Judah in the Babylonian captivity. Lessons abound in Second Kings.
Available on MP3-CD or download.

* 1 Kings: As David's life is draining from him, the nation of Israel is set to enter its most terribly trying times. His son Solomon becomes king with a reign so horrific that he fills Judah with altars to pagan gods and his harem of 1,000 women scoffs at God's command that no monarch should multiply wives. Why are the chapters of sacred history filled with such wickedness? Many theologians have claimed that God actually decreed that His own servants would violate His own commands. This Bible study of First Kings, however, allows the Scriptures themselves to expound on the reason for their disobedience. Lessons for the Christian fill this book, from how to gain wisdom, to learning why wisdom alone is insufficient, to the building of the Temple, to the political and moral lessons from Ahab and his wife Jezebel, and ultimately, to the mighty ministry of the Hebrew prophet Elijah, from the fire on Mt. Carmel to hearing the still small voice of the Lord!
Available on MP3-CD or download.

* 1 Kings: As David's life is draining from him, the nation of Israel is set to enter its most terribly trying times. His son Solomon becomes king with a reign so horrific that he fills Judah with altars to pagan gods and his harem of 1,000 women scoffs at God's command that no monarch should multiply wives. Why are the chapters of sacred history filled with such wickedness? Many theologians have claimed that God actually decreed that His own servants would violate His own commands. This Bible study of First Kings, however, allows the Scriptures themselves to expound on the reason for their disobedience. Lessons for the Christian fill this book, from how to gain wisdom, to learning why wisdom alone is insufficient, to the building of the Temple, to the political and moral lessons from Ahab and his wife Jezebel, and ultimately, to the mighty ministry of the Hebrew prophet Elijah, from the fire on Mt. Carmel to hearing the still small voice of the Lord!
Available on MP3-CD or download.

* Ruth: "Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled," that the world gained its oldest book of romance. Ruth's love story tells the world's love story. Ruth became King David's great-grandmother. And since Ruth is not a Jewish woman, but a Moabitess, her inclusion in Christ's genealogy (Mat. 1:5) raises interesting questions. Further, Ruth's mother-in-law, Rahab, had been a Canaanite prostitute. Skeptics dismiss the Bible as exclusionary and unforgiving. But students know the truth. The marriage proposal in this book, from a well-established Jewish man to a widowed Moabite woman, symbolizes God reaching out to fallen man. Boaz, a type of Christ, symbolizes Christ's role as man's redeemer. The Kinsman Redeemer perpetuates the name of the dead, raising up life where there was only death, an inheritance where there was none. 
Available on MP3-CD or download.

* Ruth: "Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled," that the world gained its oldest book of romance. Ruth's love story tells the world's love story. Ruth became King David's great-grandmother. And since Ruth is not a Jewish woman, but a Moabitess, her inclusion in Christ's genealogy (Mat. 1:5) raises interesting questions. Further, Ruth's mother-in-law, Rahab, had been a Canaanite prostitute. Skeptics dismiss the Bible as exclusionary and unforgiving. But students know the truth. The marriage proposal in this book, from a well-established Jewish man to a widowed Moabite woman, symbolizes God reaching out to fallen man. Boaz, a type of Christ, symbolizes Christ's role as man's redeemer. The Kinsman Redeemer perpetuates the name of the dead, raising up life where there was only death, an inheritance where there was none. 
Available on MP3-CD or download.

* Judges: In the book of Judges we can see the first 300 years of the history of Israel, from the time of the death of Joshua to the time of Samuel the last of the Judges. Available on MP3-CD or download.

* Judges: In the book of Judges we can see the first 300 years of the history of Israel, from the time of the death of Joshua to the time of Samuel the last of the Judges. Available on MP3-CD or download.

* Joshua: After the death of Moses, God calls on Joshua to lead the Israelites across the Jordan River and take possession of the promised land. God guarantees victory in the military campaign and vows never to leave the Israelites so long as they obey his laws.  Available on MP3-CD or download.

* Joshua: After the death of Moses, God calls on Joshua to lead the Israelites across the Jordan River and take possession of the promised land. God guarantees victory in the military campaign and vows never to leave the Israelites so long as they obey his laws.  Available on MP3-CD or download.