This episode continues our discussion of Ezekiel’s temple vision. Whereas Part 1 noted the problems a literalistic approach produces for both coherent interpretation and consistency in biblical theology, this episode looks at positive indications in the text that...
1–2 Kings
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 156: Ezekiel 40-48, Part 1
These final chapters of Ezekiel are known for the prophet’s vision of a new temple. However, scattered within that vision is an enigmatic figure referred to as the “prince” (Hebrew: nasiʾ). In this episode we discuss whether or not Ezekiel’s temple vision should be...
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 143: Ezekiel 28
The focus in this episode is Ezek 28:1-19. As readers of my book, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible know, this is a controversial passage. All scholars agree that this is an oracle and lament against a human prince of Tyre. The...
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 142: Ezekiel 26-27
Five of the seven nations that are the target of judgment oracles were found in Ezekiel 25. Tyre takes its position in the prophetic crosshairs next. Over the course of three chapters (26-28), God has Ezekiel pronounce Tyre’s dire future in the wake of her hubris and...
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 140 – Ezekiel 24
Chapter 24 is a turning book in the book of Ezekiel. After Ezekiel’s call (Ch. 1-3), the book has, to this point, been a series of gloom-and-doom pronouncements to the exiled Jews in Babylon subverting their expectations that Jerusalem, the temple, and their friends...
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 137: Ezekiel 23
Ezekiel 23 essentially takes up where Ezekiel 16 left off. The latter chapter is perhaps the most sexual explicit in the entire Bible, as its theme is to present Jerusalem and Judah as a whore to telegraph her spiritual betrayal of Yahweh. In this chapter both the...
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 135: Ezekiel 19-20
These two chapters in Ezekiel rehearse parts of Israel’s tragic history in different ways. This episode discusses both chapters, but devotes more attention to several controversial and difficult passages in chapter 20. Ezekiel 19 is a lamentation that uses animal and...
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 126 – Ezekiel 18
Ezekiel 18 focuses on one central idea: individual accountability for one’s own sinfulness. The chapter opens with God’s rejection of the pervasive Israelite idea that the suffering of one generation is the result of the sins of previous generations. The message God...
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 124 – Ezekiel 17
Ezekiel 17 presents a riddle or parable of two eagles about the treachery of Zedekiah, the puppet governor appointed by Nebuchadnezzar to replace Jehoiachin, the Judahite king taken captive in an earlier wave of exile of which Ezekiel had been a part. Zedekiah would...
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 119 – Ezekiel 10-11
Ezekiel 10-11 are the concluding chapters to a prophetic vision that began in chapter 8. In this episode we discover how these chapters provide more Godhead talk from the Old Testament and the departure of the glory of God from the temple. The episode is now live. In...
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 117 – Ezekiel 8 & 9
The episode is now live. In this episode, Dr. Michael Heiser explores Ezekiel 8-9, one of the most revealing sections about spiritual corruption and sacred space in the Old Testament. This episode takes listeners inside the Jerusalem temple, where God reveals to...
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 103 – Moses and the Bronze Serpent
The episode is now live. Naked Bible Podcast Episode 103 explores the often-misunderstood passage in Numbers 21:4–9, where Moses is instructed to make a bronze serpent and lift it up for Israel’s healing after yet another episode of rebellion in the wilderness. Dr....
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 102 – “All Israel” to be Saved?
The episode is now live. The focus is the meaning of "all Israel" in Rom 11:25-26. It's not as easy as you think. Naked Bible Podcast Episode 102 dives deep into one of Paul’s most debated phrases: “All Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26). In this thoughtful and...
Two Reviews of Archaeologist Israel Finkelstein’s Minimalist Approach to Monarchic Israel
The Biblical Archaeology Society’s Bible History Daily website recently featured two reviews of Israeli archaeologist Israel Finkelstein’s new book, The Forgotten Kingdom: The Archaeology and History of Northern Israel (Ancient Near East Monographs) . Both...
Archaeology and the Queen of Sheba
I’ve seen a couple news items in the last several days about the possible discovery of a gold mine that archaeologists suspect may be associated with the biblical story of the Queen of Sheba. Examples include this story and this post from the Bible Places blog....