Bible Fiber

This week we enter the nineteenth weekly Torah portion, Terumah, which in Hebrew means “offering.” At this point in the Exodus story, the Israelites have just witnessed the dramatic crossing of the Red Sea and stood at the base of Mount Sinai to receive the covenant. They have been given the foundational instructions for living as set-apart people. Now, God has a plan for a communal building project. 

This leads us to wonder: Why di...

This week’s Torah portion is Mishpatim, Hebrew for “laws.” The portion covers Exodus 21:1 to 24:18. At this point in the Exodus chronology, the Israelites are entering their seventh week of freedom. In the previous portion, Yitro, they heard for the first time the Ten Commandments, the Big Ten. 

If the Ten Commandments are the constitution of this new nation, Mishpatim is the civil and criminal code. This section provides a detailed...

In this episode of Bible Fiber, we explore the Torah portion Yitro (Exodus 18:1–20:23). While most weekly readings have titles that describe actions, this portion is one of only five named after a person: Jethro, the Midianite priest and father-in-law of Moses.

We look at how Jethro served as an "executive consultant" to Moses. He identified a major flaw in Moses’ leadership and provided the recipe for its correc...

This week’s portion is Beshalach, which translates to “when he sent.” The name comes from the opening verse: “When Pharaoh let the people go...” (13:17). After ten rounds of increasingly destructive plagues, Pharaoh finally agreed to release the Israelites.

Exodus 14 first provides a list of place names describing the winding journey of the escape. This was not a direct march from Egypt to Canaan; it was a zigzagging, circuitous rou...

This week’s Torah portion, Bo, covers Exodus 10:1 to 13:16. The narrative intensity hits its peak here. The last three of the ten plagues descend on Egypt: locusts devour the crops, impenetrable darkness shrouds the land, and finally, the firstborns of every Egyptian family are killed during the night.

The portion begins with a command from God to Moses: “Go to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his officials, s...

This week’s Torah portion covers Exodus 6:2-9:35. It is called Va’era, which means “and I appeared,” the first words spoken to Moses in the text. In Va’era, the story of the Exodus begins. Plagues hit the Egyptians in full force. Pharaoh knew the names of many false gods, but the one true God, the God of the Israelites, was a mystery to him. Through a series of pestilence, blood, darkness, death, and disease, Yahweh shows himself g...

Genesis closed with the descendants of Jacob living in the land of Egypt, waiting out the period of famine that had overtaken the region. What started as a temporary move turned into a centuries-long stay. We do not know the exact time interval separating Joseph from Moses. The Bible says a Pharaoh arose who “did not know Joseph” (1:8). The new Pharaoh was not beholden to the Israelites. The history of Joseph’s service was long for...

This week’s Torah portion Vayechi covers Genesis 47:28–50:26. These are the last chapters of Genesis and the final moments of the era of the patriarchs. It is a biblical pivot point. While Genesis covered the personal lives and divine encounters of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Exodus will launch into the national history of the twelve tribes. 

A Heart Anchored in the Promise

After Joseph brought his family to Goshen, Jacob lived there ...

The Hebrew title of this week’s Torah portion is Miketz, which translates to “at the end,” and it covers Genesis 41:1 to 44:17. After two years, Joseph’s long season of suffering is almost over. This portion chronicles his meteoric rise from prisoner to the Pharaoh’s chief economic advisor, second in command only to the ruler of Egypt himself. It exposes Joseph as a brilliant leader, but more importantly, it reveals a man of charac...

Joseph’s life story is one of the most masterful literary arcs in the whole of scripture. It goes far beyond just an example of brotherly jealous provoked by parental favoritism. The complex characters are fully developed so that no one is entirely guilty or innocent. The setting changes from pit to palace to prison as the storyline progresses. Although God does not make a dramatic appearance to Joseph, like the burning bush or a w...

As we follow the weekly Jewish reading calendar, we arrive at this week’s Torah portion, called Vayishlah, which means “and he sent.” The portion covers Genesis 32:4 through 36:43. 
Jacob was not the same person returning to Canaan as he was when he left twenty years prior. The biblical narrative presents an intentional symmetry to show this transformation, framing his self-induced exile with two distinct nighttime encounters w...

As we follow the weekly Jewish reading calendar, we arrive at this week’s Torah portion, called Toldot, which means “descendants” or “generations,” covering Genesis 25:19–28:9.

The reading picks up where the last portion ended: the union of Isaac and Rebekah. After twenty years of childlessness, God blessed the couple with twin boys: Jacob and Esau. However, before we delve into Jacob and Esau’s turbulent rivalry, it is essential to...

This week’s Torah portion is called Vayera, which means “And he appeared.” It is named for God’s appearance to Abraham and it covers Genesis 18:1–22:24.

The narrative opens with the arrival of three visitors at the entrance to Abraham’s tent. The text states, “The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw ...

This week’s Torah portion is called Lech Lecha, which means “Go forth,” and it centers on God’s call on Abraham’s life. It covers Genesis 12:1–17:27. 

After the biblical flood and the failed ambition of the Tower of Babel, God changes His strategy for engaging with humanity. Instead of a universal covenant with all of creation, God narrows His focus to one person: a man named Abraham from a land called Ur of the Chaldeans. The openi...

This week’s Torah portion is called Noach and it covers Genesis 6:9–11:32. The flood narrative is more than a story about a punishing rainstorm. From a theological perspective, it’s a de-creation. It’s an undoing of the world back to its primordial state of watery chaos, echoing the formless and empty earth of Genesis 1. God is essentially hitting the reset button on His creation.  The waters cover the earth, and all life is swept ...

For the past four years, we've embarked on a deep, chapter-by-chapter exploration of prophetic texts often overlooked by many readers—from the twelve minor prophets to the reformers Ezra and Nehemiah, and the major prophet Ezekiel. Now, we are embarking on a one-year sprint through the foundational texts of our faith: the first five books of the Bible, the Torah.

This series is structured around the Jewish reading cycle. Accord...

Prophets in the Bible who did not write their own books are often referred to as non-writing prophets. Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel’s prophecies were compiled into dedicated biblical books. The ministries of non-writing prophets are instead recorded within the historical narratives of other books, like Kings and Chronicles. Their primary role was to deliver God’s message to kings and the people of Israel and Judah. Their ministrie...