So We Speak

Babel is the first major city in the Bible. On the plains on Shinar, people build a monument to themselves. They rebel against God and his commands. This city becomes Babylon, the paradigm for the way cities amplify human sinfulness. Babylon runs all the way through the Bible and shows us God's plan to redeem the world, even the cities. 

The Bible is full of cities, many of which still exist today. From beginning to end, cities play a big role in God's plan for the redemption of the world. In this series, we'll look at some of the most important cities in the Bible and trace their storylines to see God's redemptive work through history. 

More than three years after Jerusalem had been destroyed, the last group of rebels holed up in the fortress of Masada. More than a thousand feet above the plain, Masada was nearly impenetrable. Led by their leader, Eleazar ben Yair, this group of brave Jews would be remembered forever as freedom fighters, a symbol of the people of Israel. 

In 70 AD, the Romans had encircled Jerusalem. Inside, warring factions were striving for power and weakening the defense. In just a few months, the city and the temple would be destroyed. What caused this destruction, and could it have been prevented?

Why is it so hard to navigate disagreements with other Christians? In his new book, When Christians Disagree: Lessons from the Fractured Relationship of John Owen and Richard Baxter, Dr. Tim Cooper uses the historical differences between two giants of the faith, John Owen and Richard Baxter, as a lens for seeing our disagreements today. Through their story, Christians can better work through our differences for kingdom impact. 

In the early 60s AD, leadership changes and warring factions produced the rumblings of war. Jewish rebels closed the temple to foreigners, and the Romans extracted taxes from the temple treasury. The leaders who emerged would play decisive roles in the events to follow. Was this the point of no return? 

Three weeks ago, the Trump administration announced that Israel and Hamas had agreed to a peace plan in Gaza. Now, it looks as though it might fall apart. Cole and Terry discuss the peace plan, summarize the major moves over the last year, and look to the future. 

Job is the longest sustained meditation on suffering in the Bible. Job, the righteous man, suffers horrendously, is accused of wrongdoing, but is vindicated in the end. It's not difficult to see a picture of Christ in this book. But the parallels go ever deeper. In this episode, Cole and Terry discuss ways to see Jesus in the book of Job. 

Esther is the only book in the Bible that does not mention God by name, but God is moving behind the scenes. Through the story and the characters, we see glimpses of God's plan to save the world and defeat the enemy through his son, Jesus.

Nehemiah is one of the great leaders in the Bible, but there's more to him than that. The book of Nehemiah lets us into his heart and his inner thoughts. It shows a leader surrendered to God and obedient to his mission. In these moments, we see Nehemiah as a preview of Christ. At the end of the book, the people are settled in the land, waiting for the Messiah to come. 

Ezra and Nehemiah were some of the final leaders in the Old Testament. They brought people back to Jerusalem, but also brought them back to God through the renewal of the covenant. As a scribe and teacher, Ezra models the ministry of Jesus in the New Testament. As he led the people, the backdrop for the first century began to take shape.