Here we go! We continue our look at the development of a doctrine of Satan, picking up by looking at 2nd Temple Jewish influences on those living at the time of Jesus, including his disciples and NT writers. I’ve included links to some primary sources down below and would just simply caution you to exercise great judgment. Protestants do not consider these canonical writings for good reason, however they still provide us an important framework for understanding the worldviews of our NT writers, and as such are important to read and be somewhat familiar with. We can rest easy, though, knowing that what YHWH has intended for us to learn and know about the Enemy, Satan, we can learn in our Bibles.

That said, I’m going to continue to ask that we allow our understanding of these topics to be shaped as we follow each domino as it falls in the Bible, through history. In other words, let’s connect the dots and follow the progression of God’s revelation of these truths, just as the biblical authors themselves experienced it.

I would also encourage everyone to check out the other resources below for further, personal study. As always, I’d love to hear your feedback! Let me know your thoughts by dropping a comment using the button below. Also, be sure to follow the Entangled Kingdoms Facebook page. And of course…share the podcast!

Articles:

* “What Are the Deuterocanonical Books of the Bible?”

* “Pseudepigrapha”

* Read Pseudepigrapha and Apocrypha online

Books:

* Huge list of curated books by Southeastern Baptist Seminary on 2nd Temple writings

* Satan and the Problem of Evil: From the Bible to the Early Church Fathers by Dr. Archie T. Wright

* An Introduction to Second Temple Judaism by Dr. Lester L. Grabbe

Videos:

Long time, no see! I pray that this episode makes up for the silence over the last couple months of holidays and the new year starting. I will say this…this episode is a doozy! So buckle up!

In this episode we are continuing to trace the development of the biblical authors understanding of “ha satan” and how, by the time of the NT, we have a singular figure known as Satan. This development doesn’t happen over night and is shaped by the experiences of the Israelites in captivity. Just as God uses our circumstances even today to teach and sanctify us, so He does with His people during this time period we’re looking at.

I’m going to continue to ask that we allow our understanding of these topics to be shaped as we follow each domino as it falls in the Bible, through history. In other words, let’s connect the dots and follow the progression of God’s revelation of these truths, just as the biblical authors themselves experienced it.

I would also encourage everyone to check out the resources below for further, personal study. As always, I’d love to hear your feedback! Let me know your thoughts by dropping a comment using the button below. Also, be sure to follow the Entangled Kingdoms Facebook page. And of course…share the podcast!

Articles:

* "Satan" - from Strong's Dictionary

* "The Enuma Elish" - the Babylonian creation myth

* “Zoroastrianism” - the ancient, Persian religion

* “Ancient Jewish History: The Birth and Evolution of Judaism”

Books:

* The World Around the Old Testament, editors Bill Arnold and Brent Strawn

* Satan and the Problem of Evil: From the Bible to the Early Church Fathers by Dr. Archie T. Wright

* The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible by Dr. Michael Heiser

Videos:

This episode continues our series on the denizens of the kingdom of darkness! We are picking up on the title or descriptor “ha satan” in the Old Testament and developing our understanding of Satan, the chief rebel and enemy of YHWH. I’m going to ask that we continue to allow our understanding of these topics to be shaped as we follow each domino as it falls in the Bible. In other words, let’s connect the dots, following the progression of God’s revelation of these truths, just as the biblical authors themselves did.

I would also encourage everyone to check out the resources below for further, personal study. As always, I’d love to hear your feedback! Let me know your thoughts by dropping a comment using the button below. Also, be sure to follow the Entangled Kingdoms Facebook page. And of course…share the podcast!

Media:

Articles:

* "Satan" in Strong's Dictionary

* "The Story of Job" by Dr. Tim Mackie, The BibleProject

Books:

* Satan and the Problem of Evil: From the Bible to the Early Church Fathers by Dr. Archie T. Wright

* The Satan: How God's Executioner Became the Enemy by Ryan Stokes

* The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible by Dr. Michael Heiser

Hello everyone! We continue our journey of surveying the denizens of the kingdom of darkness which began with the nameless “serpent” in Genesis 3. In today’s episode we’ll finish that conversation about the “serpent” tracing - very broadly -the “serpent” theme through the rest of scripture. These podcasts aren’t in depth studies, for that I would suggest you visit and utilize some of the additional resources linked over on the show’s notes at www.EntangledKingdoms.com.

So it begins!! Over the next few episodes we will be diving into the various denizens of the kingdom of darkness. Who will we find lurking there? Well to start this series off, we will be looking at the “nacash” of Genesis 3. Though we will not have time in this one episode to trace the “serpent” from Genesis to Revelation, we’ll at least get a start on him. This episode will introduce the figure and we will discuss many of the qualities Moses ascribes of him, including the new ones given to him during the curse.

And yes, we all know him by his name “Satan” but keep in mind that it is not until much, much later in biblical history that the name “Satan” is given to this serpent figure we see in Genesis. That’s something John does in the book of Revelation, which we will discuss in our next episode. For now, I would encourage you to listen to this episode with fresh ears (eyes? or mind?) and let us see what we can start to learn about the “nacash”!

Videos:

Podcasts:

* Snake in the Throne Room - BibleProject

* Moses and the Bronze Serpent - NakedBible Podcast

Articles:

* "Dragon" from "Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible"

* "Leviathan" from "Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible"

* “Origins of Serpent Worship”

Books:

* Worship of the Serpent: Traced Throughout the World by John Bathurst Deane

* Satan and the Problem of Evil: From the Bible to the Early Church Fathers by Dr. Archie T. Wright

* The Lost World of Adam and Eve: Genesis 2-3 and the Human Origins Debate by Dr. John H. Walton

Hello EKers! Hope your summer is going well! I pray you are your families are finding ways to cool off this summer and stay safe.

In this episode of the podcast we spend a few minutes recapping where we’ve been and I wanted to circle back to the importance of understanding context. Also, we pick up where we left off in our look at the Tower of Babel rebellion by looking at more of Deuteronomy 32.

A couple times in the podcast I mention this blog post from earlier this year, so be sure to check it out too!

Resources

Video

Articles

* Deuteronomy 32 and the Sons of God - Dr. Michael Heiser

* Putting the Gods in Their Place - John Piper

Books

* Gospel-Centered Hermeneutics: Foundations and Principles of Evangelical Biblical Interpretation - Graeme Goldsworthy

* The Gods of the Nations: A Study in Ancient Near Eastern National Theology - Dr. Daniel Block

“The ziggurat was the most dominant buildings of the temple complex, so it is no surprise that it draws the attention of the author of Genesis. In summary, the project is a temple complex featuring a ziggurat, which was designed to make it convenient for the god to come down to his temple, bless his people, and receive their worship. This understanding of ziggurats makes an important point drawn from the ancient Near Eastern context to clarify the biblical text: the tower of Babel was not built for people to go up, but for the god to come down.” - John H. Walton, Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible

Morning everyone! I hope you are ready because this episode dives into the events surrounding chapters 10 and 11 in Genesis. I’m sure you know the story of the “Tower of Babel” but what is its significance? Why did mankind seek to build this tower? What was their motivations? How does the rebellion continue between YHWH’s earthy and heavenly families? Well, hopefully today’s episode will shed some light on these questions and more!

To dive into more, I’d recommend the below resources!

Video:

Articles:

* “Nimrod Before and After the Bible”

* “Xelua, Aztec History”

Books:

* “The Gods of the Nations: Studies in Ancient Near Eastern National Theology” by Dr. Daniel Block

* “The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible” by Dr. Michael Heiser

* “Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible” by Dr. John Walton

* “The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament”

* “Myths and Legends of Babylonia and Assyria” by Lewis Spence

* “The Chaldean Account of Genesis” by George Smith

“We need to be good listeners, to listen to the biblical authors on their own terms.” - Dr. Tim Mackie

This episode was a long time coming, and just skims the surface of this particular topic. I’m sure we’ll revisit some of this in the future, but for more information covered, I'd point you to the following resources:

Online Articles:

* "Who Are the Nephilim and What Is Their Origin?”

* "On the Origin of Watchers: A Comparative Study of the Antediluvian Wisdom in Mesopotamian and Jewish Traditions"

* “The sons of God, the Nephilim, and the Mesopotamian Apkallu”

Books:

* “The Origin of Evil Spirits: The Reception of Genesis 6:1-4 in Early Jewish Literature” by Dr. Archie Wright

* “Demons and Spirits in Biblical Theology: Reading the Biblical Text in Its Cultural and Literary Context” by Dr. John Walton

* “Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible” by Dr. John Walton

* “Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary” by Jeremy Black and Anthony Green

Videos: