The Bible describes the components of a failed, human culture in 2 Kings 23. The contrast in the text is between what was present in the local culture of that day and what was written in the Law of Moses that it should be. The expression usually attributed to Marshall McLuhan, states:

“One thing about which fish know exactly nothing is water, since they have no anti-environment which would enable them to perceive the element they live in.”

When Josiah became king, he was six years old and the culture of Judah had degenerated in comparison to the law of Moses. Early in the story, Josiah gains a copy when the priest of the Temple of God, Hilkiah, said to Josiah,

“I have found the Book of the Law in the Temple of the Lord.” 2 Kings 22:8 (NIV)

When Josiah heard the content of this book, he tore his clothes with grief.

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Bible Bard podcast BB-158 God’s Experiment on Human Being. We speak of God’s view of humanity as an experiment. Here are the texts that provide God’s intention toward humanity: God wants to dwell among and with human beings!

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Bible Bard podcast BB-157 Public and Private Human Events in the Bible. The literature of the Bible is filled with great, public events, wonderful dramas. But there are quieter stories also. Stories where private thoughts change secret ideas, where unspoken questions are answered by whispers, people make changes that are unnoticed by others, what is interior in the heart remains undisclosed and unpublished. Most human beings live here where feelings are unspoken, thoughts untold, and an anonymous person lives a private life. Today's episode discusses where most of us live and how the Bible addresses our private feelings and faith.

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Bible Bard podcast BB-156 (There Are) Unhappy People in Heaven. Most people associate the word “heaven” with a future, post-death place of conscious happiness in the presence of God. The Bible actually says that is not true for everyone who gets into heaven: some people in heaven are seen crying, ashamed, waiting impatiently, or suffering a tremendous sense of loss and failure.

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Bible Bard podcast BB-155 Why the Number Three Keeps Reappearing in the Bible. Biblical literature was practicing this motif of the rule of three before most other literary traditions. This episode looks at numerology inside and beyond the Biblical text.

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The story of Judas Iscariot in the New Testament is the unique story of a man who is one of twelve disciples chosen by Jesus. This man is a witness to all that Jesus does during his brief three (3) year ministry just like the other 11 disciples. Yet, he does not claim absolute fealty to Jesus as do the eleven. Instead, he betrays Jesus to his enemies for a little money and then, when his plan or purpose goes awry, commits suicide. Judas is traitor, but John in the passage describing that betrayal immediately follows that story with the story of Peter’s denial of Jesus! This juxtaposition is telling. Peter is another traitor. One traitor commits suicide while the other traitor becomes the chief apostle of the first half of the book of Acts! What does the literature of the Bible tell us about this very strange circumstance?

Bible Bard podcast BB-154 Important Word Pairings in the Bible. Because we look at the biblical text as literature, we notice the pairings of people like Jacob and Esau or Moses and Aaron. There are also pairings of physical objects like heaven and earth, land and sea, flesh and spirit. And pairings of concepts, whether metaphors like light and dark or sweet and sour, or spiritual ideas like blessing and cursing, sin and righteousness, or justice and mercy. Today we look at some important pairs and how they become a vocabulary for understanding God.

Go to www.BibleBard.org to download a transcript, listen to another episode from the Archive, or get links to other materials and information. Remember, the Bible Bard English podcast is translated into other languages including Spanish, Hindi, Nepali, Urdu, Swahili, Chichewa, and Bengali (in transcript only) and we are looking for more local translators.

Support the Bible Bard podcast on Patreon at BibleBardUSA. As little as $1/week or $5/month helps to cover the costs of the podcast. You can also give at GoFundMe or at the website Donate tab. Send the Bible Bard any questions or remarks you care to offer to BibleBardUS@gmail.com. Glad to hear from you!

Bible Bard podcast BB-153 Theophanies (Appearances of God) in the Bible. God visibly appears in the Biblical narrative. When this happens in the story it is is called “a theophany”. In the Bible, God is not a theoretical supposition, He is personally present. He is not a clockmaker setting the universe into motion and then disappearing from the story into some god-place we cannot go. Instead, God interrupts the course of human events and His presence changes things. When God appears in a physical theophany, human beings usually fall, hide, tremble, remove shoes, confess uncleanness, or fear their own death.

Go to www.BibleBard.org to download a transcript, listen to another episode from the Archive, or get links to other materials and information. Remember, the Bible Bard English podcast is translated into other languages including Spanish, Hindi, Nepali, Urdu, Swahili, Chichewa, and Bengali (in transcript only) and we are looking for more local translators.

Support the Bible Bard podcast on Patreon at BibleBardUSA. As little as $1/week or $5/month helps to cover the costs of the podcast. You can also give at GoFundMe or at the website Donate tab. Send the Bible Bard any questions or remarks you care to offer to BibleBardUS@gmail.com. Glad to hear from you!