What is Esther about? Courage. Faith. Betrayal. Politics. Plots of genocide. The book of Esther is a drama about how two Jews risked everything to save their people. The story is set in Susa, the capital of the Persian Empire. Not long ago, the Jews were taken from...

After 70 years in exile, the people of Israel were coming back home. The new Persian emperor Cyrus had decreed that they return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple of their God---which had lain in ruins the whole time (Ezr 1:1--4). Zerubbabel and Jeshua, descendants...

What if you had the job of communicating your nation's entire history---its rulers, wars, religious events, economic cycles---starting with the beginning of mankind? First and Second Chronicles is that history for Israel. It's the story of Israel's kings and God's...

Jude came from an important family: The Lord Jesus Christ was his brother Mary was his mother James, the church leader was also his brother Jude hadn't always believed in Jesus (Jn 7:5;Mk 3:21), but after He rose from the dead, things changed. The world changed (Acts...

Gaius knows the truth. He was baptized by Paul and traveled with him (1 Co 1:14; Acts 19:29). Later, he hosted Paul and a local church (Ro 16:23). Now he's earned a reputation for his hospitality among the Christians (3 Jn 5–6). And hospitality is a good, powerful...

The auhtor of 1 John set several things straight in his first epistle. He'd told the churches how to know if they were of the faith, he'd dressed down the false teachings that were making their rounds, and he'd strongly urged the Christians to love one another. He'd...

The church in Corinth was in trouble. They were divided. They were immature. They were abusing the sacraments, spiritual gifts, and each other. The apostle Paul had founded this church earlier (Acts 18), and when he hears of the young church's struggles, he writes...

Christians just don't fit in, and that's not easy for the first-century church. Christians are suffering all over the world (1 Pe 5:1), and the Christians in modern-day Turkey need to know why. They need to know how to deal with it. They need to know how to live. And...

Imagine you grew up learning the Law of Moses, doing good works and observing the commands that God had given to His people Israel. Now, all of a sudden, you're told that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God, the long-awaited Messiah, the seeking savior whose death on...