This Q and A episode was developed from listener and student-generated questions regarding a previous episode on Destruction and Rebirth of Israel in Egyptian captivity. You can listen to that ⁠episode here⁠ if you need to get caught up. Just click the link or scroll. Topics Covered: Why did Pharoah treat the Israelites so poorly. A brief history of how Israel ended up in Egypt. How long was Israel supposed to remain in Egypt? What's the deal with all these plagues? Did Moses ever see his family again? Moses as Cain redeemed.

The final section of our Tragic Heroes unit examines the life of Solomon. As with most tragic heroes, Solomon proves to be a controversial character. The semi-bastard son of King David, Solomon is both the son of magnificent promise, but also is one who subverts the traditional order in the world of the narrative. Topics Covered: How Solomon subverts the order of tradition. Birthright motifs. Meta-narrative of God blessing those "outside" of societal traditions Solomon's fame. Narrative structure, and how the it predicts Solomon's downfall. Fame. Money. Where do we get wisdom?

As we delve deeper into Tragic Hero narratives in The Bible, this episode we take a look at Samson. As you could probably guess, this story is much deeper, and much more nuanced than the typical Sunday-school treatment it gets. In fact, it could be said, that his story is a miniature history and foretelling of the fates and fortunes of Israel. Topics Covered: Samson's family history Divine/miracle birth The Nazirite's vow The Riddle The betrayal Samson's retribution and the question of holy violence How many times does Samson break his vow? Symbolism behind burning vineyards, wheat fields, and olive groves Samson's lack of having a sword Discernment, sight and blindness Betrayal trauma Relying on one's own "giftedness"

Continuing our study on Tragic Hero narratives in The Bible, this episode breaks down the story of Jonah. Listen to our background episode and that of King Saul here. Jonah, as a story in the greater context of The Bible, almost defies classification. As such, the narrative becomes a type of satire and a mirror in which the reader has to wrestle with some tough questions about the nature of God. Topics Covered: Jonah as Satire "The Man of God" as a type of nobility The fatal flaw of self-righteousness The dangers of "Choseness" and "Giftedness" Ironies, Ironies and more Ironies Tiamat and Sumerian creation narratives. The Chaos waters Who is more powerful: Marduk-the violent warrior, or YHWH who speaks and the seamonster obeys? Jonah as the older brother in The Prodigal Son The tree and the worm, the tree and the serpent

King Saul is one of the most intriguing figures in the Bible Story. While showing much potential, the first political king of Israel just can't seem to get it right. In this episode we dive into the structure of a Tragic Hero narrative and pull out details from the story which have been forcing readers for generations to consider the following question: Was King Saul doomed to failure from the start? Listen to find out. Topics Covered: The Structure of a Tragic Hero Narrative Saul's Nobility Fatal Flaws, Woundedness What Saul and Walter White have in common Embracing the wound as transformation Overcoming the wound as a separator between a hero and a tragic hero. Saul and Zoolander--both ridiculously good-looking The symbolism of Saul's sword The symbolism of Saul's death

This episodes traces similarities between the award-winning film WALL-E stories from The Biblical canon. Topics Explored: The themes of destruction and rebirth Symbolism of Names WALL-E as a Noah type figure The Axiom as a type of Egyptian captivity "To till and to Tend" Different manifestations of AI AI's "Otto" as Pharoah Law versus life The law of life Does humanity really desire comfort?

The Book of Job may prove to be the most interestingly complex works in the collections of The Bible. Part frame tale, part poetic masterpiece, part critique of neighboring Ancient Near-Eastern philosophies, this book has been inviting readers for over 1000 years to wrestle with some of life's toughest questions. We also have a strange moment where God and The Devil have a conversation. Topics Covered: Frame story Abundance and fruitfulness Decreation and destruction The well-meaning advice without God's discernment Similarities between Garden of Eden and Noah stories. Is God just? Does God run the universe on justice? Does God punish the bad and reward the good? How can suffering be explained?

In this episode we look at the motif of creation, decreation, destruction, and rebirth and how it applies to a nation. As we have seen, this Bible story flips the attempt to commit evil upon an entire nation on its head, and uses the circumstance to give birth to a new culture entirely. Topics Covered: Tie ins--the end of Genesis as a frame for beginning of Exodus Why is genocide a theme throughout the Bible? Representations of water Be fruitful and multiply--the reverse of Eve's "curse". Moses' role. Catch up on Moses' background here. Representations of the Garden of Eden, 1st creation and the overlapping of Heaven and Earth.

Continuing in a study of destruction and rebirth, this episode examines the pattern and motif and how it plays out in the story of Noah and The Flood. Source text Genesis 6:1-9:4. Topics Covered: Divine beings having offspring with human women Conspiracy theories Ancient aliens Connections between divine beings and The Serpent Adam and Eve episode recommendation. The flood as a re-creation of first creation God and wind God and waters Waters above and waters below The Raqia Ancient Near-Eastern "God of the Oceans" interpretations...

As a whole, The Bible operates in movements of Creation and Destruction, Destruction and Rebirth, ultimately leading us the the stunning conclusion than Heaven and Earth are always desiring to meet and become one spectacular place. In the midst of all of this, a character named "YHWH" or "God" is always trying to bring order to the chaos the created world brings into paradise. In this episode, we look at the origin of Heaven and Earth overlapping and in The Garden of Eden, along with the implications and patterns that follow. Topics Covered: Literary units The importance of a literary frame The literary frames for Gen 2:4-4:2 Biblical Repetition and ordering in Ancient Near-Eastern Literature The Serpent as a Heavenly being The Serpent as a archetype of chaos Adam/Adan as the meeting of Heaven and Earth in a body The Garden of Eden as a realm where Heaven and Earth Meet Temples and Tabernacles and Churches and Christ Water motifs throughout The Bible Story Who is cursed? Eve? Was she a dream of Adam's or was she taken from his rib, literally?