Character in Context

Ugh. When I started my Context for Kids radio show, I was just dreading this series. Genesis 19—really the only chapter in the Bible I would want to teach even less is Judges 19. But, I can’t skip it over, right? I will be teaching the kids Genesis 19 interpretation by using the prophets and how they viewed and spoke about Sodom—as an unhospitable and oppressively wicked society—and leave sex out of it. But you guys need to be able to answer the hard questions that would get me fitted for an ankle bracelet if I tried it. This is a brutal, deep dive into the ancient Near Eastern context of the account of the destruction of the cities of the plain and so you’ll likely be hearing things you’ve never heard before such as the ancient practice of shaming via gang rape, and the dyadic community mindset that drove Lot’s daughters to incest. Not for the faint of heart. Not for little kids. Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2024/04/episode-188-stuff-i-cant-teach-kids-about-sodom-and-gomorrah/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/TdWB3d3SeNg

Now that we’ve covered the ancient rules for hospitality, I want to talk about the commonly misunderstood accounts of Rahab, Yael and Abigail. And we’ll also talk about how the world had changed by the time of the apostles with a quick look at Lydia. Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2024/03/episode-187-hospitality-or-not-rahab-yael-abigail-and-lydia-in-context/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/nbEgohsMR00

Genesis chapters 18 and 19 read as very shallow morality tales without an intimate understanding of the social dynamics going on in the arena of hospitality expectations. This is the first of two teachings describing the established parameters and rituals associated with dealing with strangers to a community and the who, what, when, where and why’s of offering sustenance and lodging. What did Abraham do right? What did Lot do wrong? This is where we can begin to understand these two complex chapters of Scripture—as well as Judges 19. Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2024/02/episode-186-hospitality-family-and-travel-in-the-days-of-sodom/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/xHsnfgK7Vsk

This is a companion and more intensive lesson for adults based upon my current series on Context for Kids on "being like Jesus." Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2024/01/episode-185-are-we-modeling-good-fruit-or-folly/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/qh8SjoSnwiA

A huge early theme of the Gospel of Matthew that carries throughout is the portrayal of Yeshua as the latter and greater Moses. In addition to this, He also declares Himself to be greater than the Temple and a whole lot of other sacred cows of the first century. This week we will investigate these claims and find out why they are so important to Matthew’s particular audience. Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/11/episode-184-the-gospel-of-matthew-3-the-greater-than-motif-second-moses/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/6zimKlSuW0k

What is the Kingdom of Heaven and how does it differ (if at all) from the Kingdom of God spoken of by Mark and Luke? How is it to be compared with the Kingdom of the Beast and the worldly systems of honor and shame culture? Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/11/episode-183-gospel-of-matthew-2-honor-and-shame-in-the-kingdom-of-heaven/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/RYrRBigIdo0

Why is the Gospel of Matthew called a biography when it looks absolutely nothing like our modern biographies? What were the rules of writing an ancient life story and how did Matthew use this genre to communicate the story of the Messiah to his very unique audience at a very tumultuous time in history? Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/10/episode-182-matthew-1-the-who-what-why-and-when-of-the-first-gospel/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/_RMRv0sxLRI

When I teach the kids, they call me Miss Tyler, but today I am Auntie Tyler. Privilege is a concept that appears all over the Bible and in every sort of literature within it. Privilege is incredibly important within the Biblical narrative--but why? I want to peel back a lot of the rhetoric, talking points, and misinformation out there to take a hard look at how Christians should view privilege and what it should mean in the life of the Body of Christ. Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/10/episode-181-privilege-what-it-is-isnt-and-why-it-matters/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/Omp1KQJaJ1c

Or maybe you think they don’t need to learn about Circumcision. Fair enough, but I can’t teach them anything about Genesis 17 and the foundation of the Land Grant Covenant without dealing with it. Neither of us can teach them about the important Scriptural meta-narrative of the circumcision of the heart that they will need to understand in order to live as disciples in the New Creation life we want for them. I will also be talking frankly about the importance of being open and honest with our kids about body parts and sex because if we can’t do that, then they won’t have adequate guides in us for learning the Bible. And when they do have questions, they will find someone else. In addition, I also talk about the importance of calling things what they are, without shame, and how it prevents sexual abuse. Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/09/episode-180-help-me-c4k-my-kids-need-to-learn-about-circumcision/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/iYhEwnr0uJE

There are many misconceptions about Yom Kippur but the most grievous is the lack of understanding of exactly what is cleansed and what is forgiven and what is not. Yom Kippur was good news for the community but not necessarily for the individual so this week we will talk about why. Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/09/episode-179-what-yom-kippur-cant-fix/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/G46UG2EHPm8

There is so much debate about this Psalm. Not only does it contain two words that we don’t know what the heck they mean, but the context is quite the mystery. Is the Psalmist (David?) being lied about? Are the Kingdom elites resorting to Ba’al worship in order to bring an end to a famine? Is this Psalm 3 part 2 where David’s advisors are defecting to Absalom? Lots of questions and lots of debate. Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/09/episode-178-psalm-4-what-on-earth-is-going-on-here/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/42lW87CiS08

What is a Psalm of David? Or is it a Psalm by David? A Psalm in the style of David or about him? This week we will talk about irritating Hebrew conjunctions and why context is incredibly important—and sometimes unknowable. And what about the fourteen titled Psalms? How do we read this one in light of David and Absalom? The Bible is a messy book about messy people and messy situations and so this Psalm is going to be really messy too. Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/09/episode-177-psalm-3-mimzor-ldavid/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/IXKgCjbL4DA

Psalm 2 is one of the most famous “Messianic” psalms out there but it also pairs with Psalm 1 to teach the readers how to view the entire collection of hymns, laments, and royal tributes. How do Psalm1 and Psalm 2 work as a team in introducing the rest of the psalter? Why is it important for wisdom and kingship to dwell side by side in Covenant relations? Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/08/episode-176-psalm-2-more-than-messianic/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/fyonTJg9AjM

This is the beginning of a new series exploring the Psalms. I am going to alternate between the Psalms and the Gospel of Matthew because knowing the Psalms will help with understanding this Gospel and Yeshua’s/Jesus’s role as the Greater Moses as well as the Greater David. It won’t be obvious at first, but after a while it really will begin to make sense. Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/07/episode-175-psalm-1/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/05Vnl-DvsgU

I have actually been dreading this moment since I began the Context for Kids radio show and knew that one day, I would have to cover the Biblical account of Abram and Sarai’s use of Hagar to produce a child. In context, it’s an ugly tale, albeit a common one in the ancient world. I can’t be as blunt about the situation with the kids as I can be with adults and so I am devoting a program over on this side of my ministry with the hopes of helping adults know how to teach children about what is going on in this chapter from beginning to end. As these sorts of accounts are often used in the cultish justification of sexual abuses in the Church, kids really do need to have a decent working knowledge that this sort of situation isn’t okay. Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/07/episode-174-help-how-do-i-explain-hagars-story-to-my-kids/ Youtube: https://youtu.be/yDki5L7lTNk

What is inerrancy? Depends on who you ask. And yet, with so many definitions and no absolute agreement even on the basics, people sure do a lot of fighting about it. It’s a word that means different things to different people and so, based on what we have covered so far in the study series, what can we believe about the Bible? And does the Bible claim to be inerrant, or something else entirely? Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/06/episode-173-the-study-series-18-inerrancy-inspiration-and-authority/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/MSzugzF9s-w

How come, when forty percent of the Psalms are laments, plus whole sections of the prophets and the entire book of Lamentations, are worship songs so focused on how hunky-dory life is? Sure, some of the Psalms are praises, but there are fewer praises than sad songs of complaint and hopelessness. As my next series is going to be about the Psalms, it is important that we have a healthy and balanced perspective on how psalms work, what we should expect to find in them, and what they tell us about how to relate to God. Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/06/episode-172-the-study-series-17-psalms-and-laments/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/m5w8Q_7z604

We’re almost done with genre studies, I promise, so next week will be it. But this time, we have to look at the differences between the Sermons that Yeshua/Jesus delivered and the letters to specific congregations written by Paul, Peter, James and others. When we read a letter (aka epistle) as though it is a sermon, it can lead to some really bad problems. Maybe most importantly, how are we supposed to read the “law codes” in the Bible? Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/06/episode-171-the-study-series-16-the-torah-the-sermons-and-the-problem-with-epistles/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/c0yX5u1iclg

Last summer, I did a series on my kids show about gender identity issues and I wrote this at that time to help adults understand how it is absolutely not the kids or just the liberal media who have created this problem—we’ve been just as bad and even worse as believers. How can that be? What can we do? This week we are going to explore just that. There is an extensive book list on this issue at the end of my transcript. My series for kids can be found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu85aHCKqEA&list=PLyGci9v9u1suH86q2pBxL3jL5pmfiuR0m Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/05/episode-170-why-gender-and-identity-confusion-are-all-your-faultand-mine-too/

Alonso Schökel once said that “what has been written with imagination must be read with imagination,” and although we completely understand the difference between reading one of Shakespeare’s sonnets and Shirer’s Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, we tend not to do that with Biblical poetry, which makes up roughly a third of the Hebrew Scriptures. We have the same problem when we don’t understand the original purpose of wisdom literature in general, and parables and allegories. Learning how to read these will revolutionize your Bible studies. Transcript: https://theancientbridge.com/2023/04/episode-169-the-study-series-15-wisdom-literature-poetry-parables-and-allegories/