Barnabas Compared to Ananias and Sapphira

In my previous blog post, after exploring some dead ends in our study of New Testament real estate law, we finally ended with an examination of biblical land laws, and how those laws applied to Levites. In this post, we’ll conclude our study of Ananias and Sapphira. To do so,…

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The Early Church and Common Property – Part 1

In my last post, I laid out a plan for studying the behavior and consequent deaths of Ananias and his wife Sapphira, described in Acts 4:32-5:11. We’ll begin our study by looking at marginal notes. What does Scripture mean when indicating that to members of the early church, “all things…

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Ananias and Sapphira in the Book of Acts

In my last post, I wrapped up our look at Baruch and God’s message to him in Jeremiah 45. Today we’ll launch our three-part study of Ananias and Sapphira, whose misunderstood death has been the source of some wild speculation and some questionable conclusions. For instance, today there is at…

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Neighbor? Who Is My Neighbor?
Strangers, outsiders, neighbors, friends. How do you tell who is who?

Neighbor? Who Is My Neighbor?

In the last blog post, we diverted from our intention to move into the interpretation stage of our study. Finally, the moment has arrived. We are ready to ponder what it was that Christ was telling the lawyer who asked, "Who is my neighbor?" This question, as we have already…

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Who Is This Lawyer in Luke 10?
The Torah, the core of Law for Sadducee and Pharisee

Who Is This Lawyer in Luke 10?

In my last blog post, I indicated that this post would continue the interpretation phase of the inductive method. However, I realized that we had neglected to consider one crucial element. That element is the lawyer whose question prompted Christ to tell the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Who is…

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Just Who Were the Samaritans?
Samaritan high priest with a copy of the Samaritan Pentateuch

Just Who Were the Samaritans?

This week we'll wrap up the observation stage of our study of the Parable of the Good Samaritan. We'll do so by taking a closer look at the single most important note we made as we read through Luke 10. Just who were the Samaritans? This task is not as…

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Hades and Hospitality in Luke 10
The front and back of a denarius from the time of Augustus

Hades and Hospitality in Luke 10

Last week we looked at the remaining five cities among the eight we discovered in Luke 10. This week we’ll take a look at most of the other significant concepts we noticed through the chapter. We'll begin with the Greek word Hades. What in the World is Hades? In Greek…

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Major Cities Mentioned in Luke 10
The desolate road connecting Jerusalem to Jericho

Major Cities Mentioned in Luke 10

In contrast to the three relatively unimportant towns of Galilee in my last blog post are the five major cities. All of these cities of Luke 10 span the pages of the Old and New Testaments. We’ll divide the cities into two groups for our discussion. Benchmarks for Sin The…

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