Ezekiel 32 is a lament for the empire of Egypt, whose hubris was compared to a rebellious divine council member in the previous chapter (one of the “trees” of God’s garden in Lebanon/Eden). This episode focuses on two items in the chapter. Early in the chapter, the...
Sheol
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 145: Ezekiel 31 and the Cosmic Tree
Ezekiel 31 is part of the prophet’s oracles against Egypt (chs. 29-32). The chapter strikes an analogy between the mighty nation of Egypt and a great cedar tree in Eden, the envy of other glorious trees in the garden of God. The symbol of the “world tree” or “cosmic...
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 118 – Q & A 16
The episode is now live. In this Q&A episode of the Naked Bible Podcast, Dr. Michael Heiser tackles a wide range of theological questions submitted by listeners. From the justice of divine election to the nature of the resurrection body, this episode offers a...
Heiser Article on Rephaim in LBD (Lexham Bible Dictionary)
Can't believe I forgot to post this when I wrote it a few months back. LBD is available for free with the download of the Faithlife Study Bible (I did the notes for Genesis through Judges on that). Anyway, here's my article on "Rephaim" in PDF: Rephaim LBD I also did...
Naked Bible 46: Q&A 2
Our second Question and Answer episode! Here are the papers referenced in the show:Why use the Septuagint?ANE Pagan Divination PracticesBelial-Mastema-Satan-Devil-DNTBLordsDayDLNT Transcript 46 Q&A2 Q&A Summary and Timestamps Here are the main listener...
Jesus and Reincarnation
I'm happy to announce that my article "Did Jesus Allow for Reincarnation? Assessing the Syntax of John 9:3-4" has finally appeared. It is the first article for the new online peer-reviewed Scandinavian Evangelical E-Journal for New Testament Studies. Check it out....
Biblical Anthropology, Part 5
In my last biblical anthropology post, I posed these three questions. Here they are again with some proposed answers: 1. When nephesh is described as being in sheol, does the term refer to only the inner part, the body, or the totality? It seems that if Sheol refers...
Sheol: The OT “Bad Place”?
In the last post I sketched out how the OT does indeed contain the idea of some sort of afterlife with God beyond and external to Sheol for the righteous. In this post, we'll look at the unrighteous who are left in Sheol. Does the OT have any sort of view of the...
Sheol: Does the OT Have a Concept of Eternal Bliss or Heaven?
Good to be back blogging on the NB. I lost my laptop for a week and posting was spotty. But thanks the Geek Squad at BestBuy, I'm back in business. By now you've had plenty of time to read through the file I posted with all the occurrences of Sheol. You should have...
Returning to Sheol
I've been getting asked about Sheol and the afterlife a lot recently, so I thought I'd return briefly to the topic. (I had blogged about this in relation to ghosts in the OT). Specifically, here is the question: does the OT contain the idea of either a blissful...