Intro We know of Baruch from the book of Jeremiah, where he is presented as Jeremiah’s scribe (Jeremiah 32:10-16; 36:1-31). Baruch means “blessed one,” a shortened form of Berechyahu, “blessed […]
The Apocrypha, Lesson 19: Sirach, Part 2: The New Testament’s Use of Sirach
September 9, 2017 by
Intro Last week, we surveyed the Lutheran Church’s “lovefest” with Sirach. Today, we do the same but focus our attention on the New Testament. In about 195 BC, “Jesus, son […]
The Apocrypha, Lesson 18: Lutheranism’s Love Affair with Sirach
September 7, 2017 by
Intro For this first lesson on Sirach, we are breaking protocol. When your pastor started preparing this lesson, he found an extensive use of Sirach in the history of the […]
The Apocrypha, Lesson 17: The Wisdom of Solomon, Part 3
August 26, 2017 by
Intro We earlier learned Jesus is Wisdom incarnate. The Church understood the Apocrypha book of Wisdom to foretell Christ’s coming (“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel). Today, we continue exploring what […]
The Apocrypha, Lesson 16: The Wisdom of Solomon, Part 2
August 25, 2017 by
Intro Last week, we stopped at the end of chapter 6. Today, we pick up, exploring select verses of Wisdom. Wisdom Described and the Christ to Come Remember, “wisdom” […]
The Apocrypha, Lesson 15: The Wisdom of Solomon, Part 1
August 25, 2017 by
Intro Author: The Lutheran Study Bible Apocrypha writes: “The obvious Greek style and philosophical influences make it clear that the Hebrew king Solomon did not write the book.” Now, this […]
The Apocrypha, Lesson 12: 1-2 Maccabees, Pt. 2
July 24, 2017 by
Recap A representative of Antiochus confronts Mattathias in his town to be the first to offer a pagan sacrifice and become a “friend” of the king. When Mattathias refuses, another […]
The Apocrypha, Lesson 11: 1-2 Maccabees
July 17, 2017 by
Introduction 1 Maccabees describes the attempts at Hellenization by the Seleucid ruler, Antiochus IV Epiphanes (1:1-2:70), moving on to cover the exploits of Judas Maccabeus (3:1-9:22) and his brothers Jonathan […]
The Apocrypha, Lesson 10: Tobit, Pt. 3
July 17, 2017 by
We finished with Tobias sending Azariah (the angel Raphael) to retrieve the 30 years’ worth of wages. After the 14-day wedding celebration, Tobias and Azariah plan to head home. We […]
The Apocrypha, Lesson 9: Tobit, Pt. 2
July 17, 2017 by
Last week, we learned of Tobit, who became blind from bird droppings. After remembering he had saved about 30 years’ worth of wages, he sends his son, Tobias, to retrieve […]
