Does the Bible seem difficult to understand? Have you switched to a modern translation to make it easier? Literary devices such as hyperbole and apocalyptic language appear frequently and may limit our understanding more than the translation. Most of the Bible is expressed in terms of covenant, an important concept that is also not well understood and which is seldom explained by our churches. If we fail to understand such concepts, we will be unlikely to fully appreciate the entire Bible. Those who would applaud our difficulty and would like to dismantle our belief system entirely may have attempted to discredit early Genesis more than any other portion of scripture. If Genesis 1:1 is not true, where does that leave the rest of the Bible? Did Jesus actually die for my sins? Is God, himself, a myth? If apparent conflicts go unresolved, it becomes easier to question the relevance of the entire Bible. The resolution of much of the difficulty lies in gaining an understanding of covenant creation. If you have ever thought that the Bible is full of errors, think again. It was not written to people in the culture of the 21st century western world. It was written to a people who lived 2,000 or more years ago in a culture which had a different way of thinking, of using words, and even numbers. I hope to show that the Bible is highly accurate and relevant for today's reader. To understand it the way the original hearers would have, we must get inside the mind of the ancient near easterner. This book attempts to bring the Bible into focus for today. It is not necessary to change its teaching or to alter doctrine. However, gaining an understanding for today requires a new way of looking at it. I hope to make that possible for you, today's 21st century western reader.

Many books have been written about the Exodus. Most seem to place the greatest emphasis on understanding the historical aspects of that event. Restarting Exodus will take a different approach. The emphasis will be on understanding the spiritual picture being presented. While most people understand that the Exodus is telling of the great spiritual deliverance of the Hebrews, they underestimate the degree to which the spiritual is incorporated. Here you will find the Exodus to have been “restarted” using covenant theology. The covenant view will cause many portions of the Exodus to come alive with fresh ideas and an understanding from the theological perspective. If you want to read a book based on traditional thinking, this is the wrong book. Only read this book if you are interested in a fresh look into the Exodus.

People all over the world suffer in silence. Why? Because they do not have any answers as to how to help themselves or deal with their unresolved pain. They are either stuck in their physical, emotional, spiritual, and sexual life, or they are experiencing a deficit in one or more of these four categories. There are tried and proven solutions! There are precepts a person can apply to their life that will lead them to freedom in all of these areas. RESET YOUR HEART is not another self-help book that makes empty promises and delivers no results. On the contrary! Following the principles outlined within its pages will set you free! My own physical life was set in order and my emotional heart was freed from the pain I carried for years. I have been liberated in my spiritual life and my sexual identity has been restored. This is something I could previously only imagine. If someone has experienced severe trauma in their life, it would be helpful to also seek assistance from a trusted counselor. However, the principles that have been outlined in this book can be applied to help a person get on the right track. My intent for writing this book is to instill hope for people of all ages and stages of life and to encourage them to RESET THEIR HEARTS and live the abundant life God has promised.

World missions needs a fully biblical ethos. This is the contention of the editors of and contributors to World Mission, a series of essays aimed at reforming popular approaches to missions. In the first set of essays, contributors develop a biblical theology of world missions from both the Old and New Testaments, arguing that the theology of each must stand in the foreground of missions, not recede into the background. In the second, they unfold the Great Commission in sequence, detailing how it determines the biblical strategy of all mission enterprises. Finally, they treat current issues in world missions from the perspective of the sufficiency of Scripture. Altogether, this book aims to reform missions to be thoroughlyâ€"not just foundationallyâ€"biblical, a needed correction even among the sincerest missionaries.

Exalting Jesus in Genesis is part of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series. Edited by David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, and Tony Merida, this commentary series takes a Christ-centered approach to expositing each book of the Bible. Each chapter explains and applies key passages, providing helpful outlines for study and teaching. This practical and easy-to-read commentary is designed to help the reader see Christ in Genesis. More devotional than academic, the expositions are presented as sermons and divided into chapters that conclude with a “Reflect & Discuss” section, making this series ideal for small group study, personal devotion, and even sermon preparation. The CCE series will include 47 volumes when complete; this volume is written by Phillip Bethancourt.

The purpose of this book is to introduce the Pentateuch to (under)graduate students by approaching it from the perspective of five theological polarities: chaos-creation (Genesis), slavery-freedom (Exodus), defilement-holiness (Leviticus), wilderness-homeland (Numbers), and conflict-covenant (Deuteronomy). It examines these polarities in light of other great texts from the ancient Near East (and Qur'an) in the hope of ushering the reader into a deeper understanding of the one God revered by Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

Themelios is an international, evangelical, peer-reviewed theological journal that expounds and defends the historic Christian faith. Themelios is published three times a year online at The Gospel Coalition (http://thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/) and in print by Wipf and Stock. Its primary audience is theological students and pastors, though scholars read it as well. Themelios began in 1975 and was operated by RTSF/UCCF in the UK, and it became a digital journal operated by The Gospel Coalition in 2008. The editorial team draws participants from across the globe as editors, essayists, and reviewers. General Editor: D. A. Carson, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School Managing Editor: Brian Tabb, Bethlehem College and Seminary Consulting Editor: Michael J. Ovey, Oak Hill Theological College Administrator: Andrew David Naselli, Bethlehem College and Seminary Book Review Editors: Jerry Hwang, Singapore Bible College; Alan Thompson, Sydney Missionary & Bible College; Nathan A. Finn, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary; Hans Madueme, Covenant College; Dane Ortlund, Crossway; Jason Sexton, Golden Gate Baptist Seminary Editorial Board: Gerald Bray, Beeson Divinity School Lee Gatiss, Wales Evangelical School of Theology Paul Helseth, University of Northwestern, St. Paul Paul House, Beeson Divinity School Ken Magnuson, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Jonathan Pennington, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary James Robson, Wycliffe Hall Mark D. Thompson, Moore Theological College Paul Williamson, Moore Theological College Stephen Witmer, Pepperell Christian Fellowship Robert Yarbrough, Covenant Seminary

Using a combination of form-critical and linguistic methods, the author seeks to understand the role of the toledot formula, often translated "These are the generations of Name," in shaping the book of Genesis and the Pentateuch as a whole. An examination of the formula uncovers that it functions primarily as a heading to major sections of text and draws the readers' attention to focus on an ever narrower range of characters. By starting from the perspective of the surface structure of the text and addressing questions that investigation raises, the study is able to uncover and resolve a number of tensions within the text, as well as provide insights into a number of other questions surrounding the toledot headings and the organization of the structure of the Pentateuch.

The social and cultural challenges posed by the increasing threat to creation (climate change, destruction of biodiversity, etc.) are the starting point for new philosophical-ethical and theological reflections on the relationship between God, human beings and the world, as presented in this volume. God's creative impulse, which transforms anew, is at work in the actions of human beings and challenges us, in view of the threat to the "house of life" earth, to go new ways that make a common and good life possible. Creation and transformation are interrelated; an ecological theology of creation and practice of sustainability to be developed in the European context is to be embedded in the horizon of a global, liberating theology. Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Margit Eckholt, professor of dogmatics and fundamental theology at the Institute of Catholic Theology / University of Osnabrück, president of the European Society for Catholic Theology

This book invites a close textual encounter with the first 11 chapters of Genesis as an intimate drama of marginalised peoples wrestling with the rise of the world’s first grain states in the Mesopotamian alluvium. The initial 11 chapters of Genesis are often considered discordant and fragmentary, despite being a story of beginnings within the context of the Bible. Readers discover how these formative chapters cohere as a cross-generational account of peoples grappling with the hegemonic spread of domesticated grain production and the concomitant rise of the pristine states of Mesopotamia. The book reveals how key episodes from the Genesis narrative reflect major societal revolutions of the Neolithic period in Mesopotamia through a three-fold hermeneutical method: literary analysis of the Bible and contemporary cuneiform texts; modern scholarship from archaeological, anthropological, ecological, and historical sources; and relevant exegesis from the Second Temple and rabbinical era. These three strands entwine to recount a generally sequential story of the earliest archaic states as narrated by non-elites at the margins of these emerging state spaces. The Dawn of Agriculture and the Earliest States in Genesis 1–11 provides a fascinating reading of the first 11 chapters of Genesis, appealing to students and scholars of the Hebrew Bible and the Near East, as well as those working on ecological injustice from a religious vantage point.