Gilbert House Fellowship
207 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 17 hours ago - ★★★★★ - 179 ratingsA virtual house fellowship of like-minded believers seeking to better understand the Word of God.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Gilbert House Fellowship #278: Exodus 14-15
August 23, 2020 16:03 - 1 hour - 63.4 MBTHE RED SEA crossing is an iconic moment in the Bible, the history of Israel, and in movies (thanks to legendary producer/director Cecil B. DeMille). But it’s way cooler than you might know. We explain why this event was far more than just Israel’s escape from Egypt. For example, have you ever noticed that God directed Moses to turn around and camp—in other words, to stop and wait for the Egyptian chariots to catch up? The significance of their campsite is also important, and we note the p...
Gilbert House Fellowship #277: Exodus 10-13
August 16, 2020 16:27 - 1 hour - 68.8 MBTHE PASSOVER is a milestone in world history. It’s a defining moment in the creation of Israel, and thus, a key event in the natural and spiritual history of the world. We discuss the connection between the Passover and another event of primary importance, the crucifixion of Jesus. We also discuss the cross-pollination of the pantheons of the Amorites (Canaanites) and Egyptians, and why it’s so difficult to draw one-to-one connections between the plagues of Egypt and the Egyptian pantheon. ...
Gilbert House Fellowship #276: Exodus 7-9
August 09, 2020 16:45 - 1 hour - 68.5 MBIT'S A showdown on the Nile between the God of the Hebrews and the gods of Egypt. However, contrary to what we've been taught, the gods of Egypt in Moses' day weren't all Egyptian gods. We discuss the first seven plagues of the Exodus and why we believe a one-to-one correspondence between the plagues and Egyptian gods doesn't give us the full picture. Psalm 78:48-49 reveals that the seventh plague (hail and fire), which will be echoed in the first trumpet judgment of Revelation 8:7, was the...
Gilbert House Fellowship #275: Exodus 4-7
August 02, 2020 16:39 - 1 hour - 59 MBMOSES RETURNS to Egypt with Aaron as his mouthpiece, a concession by God to Moses’ reluctance to speak to his fellow Hebrews about the Lord’s promise of deliverance. Despite being told by God that Pharaoh’s heart would be hardened, Moses complained when the king of Egypt not only refused to let Israel go, but increased the burden on the Israelites working to make bricks. We also discuss the strange incident of Exodus 4:24-26, where God “sought to put [Moses] to death,” apparently because h...
Gilbert House Fellowship #275: Exodus 4-6
August 02, 2020 16:39 - 1 hour - 59 MBMOSES RETURNS to Egypt with Aaron as his mouthpiece, a concession by God to Moses’ reluctance to speak to his fellow Hebrews about the Lord’s promise of deliverance. Despite being told by God that Pharaoh’s heart would be hardened, Moses complained when the king of Egypt not only refused to let Israel go, but increased the burden on the Israelites working to make bricks. We also discuss the strange incident of Exodus 4:24-26, where God “sought to put [Moses] to death,” apparently because h...
Gilbert House Fellowship #274: Exodus 1-3
July 26, 2020 16:48 - 1 hour - 64.1 MBISRAEL SPENT 430 years in Egypt. This is recorded in Exodus 12:40-41 and Galatians 3:17. How do we reconcile that with God’s promise to Abraham that his descendants would return “in the fourth generation” (Gen. 15:16), or the four generations between Levi and Moses (Ex. 6:16-20)? We address that, and Derek admits his timeline of the ancient Hebrews needs to be adjusted accordingly. For the record, he now agrees with the plain reading of the 430 years, which places Jacob and his family in Eg...
Gilbert House Fellowship #273: Genesis 50
July 19, 2020 16:50 - 1 hour - 57.4 MBJACOB WAS buried at the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron. So, why did Joseph and his brothers take his body all the way around the other side of the Dead Sea to mourn for seven days at a threshing floor in the ruined city of Sodom? We discuss the “physicians” of Joseph (ropheim in Hebrew) and the Rephaim of the Transjordan, explain why we believe the threshing floor of Atad was at the site of Sodom, and speculate as to why Joseph and the retinue mourned Jacob for seven days “beyond the Jordan.” ...
Gilbert House Fellowship #272: Genesis 47-49
July 12, 2020 17:22 - 1 hour - 57.3 MBJACOB’S STORY comes to a close this week. He lived for seventeen years in Egypt, long enough to see Joseph use the foreknowledge given by God to concentrate power in the hands of the pharaoh (and the same number of years Joseph lived before he was sold into slavery by his brothers). We discuss Jacob’s blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh, in which we see again an elder brother passed over in favor of the younger, and the patriarch’s prophecies over his sons. Judah, the fourth son, is elevated a...
Gilbert House Fellowship #271: Genesis 44-46
July 05, 2020 16:36 - 59 minutes - 55.3 MBJOSEPH FINALLY reveals himself to his brothers, unable to continue his deception any longer. His brothers had returned to Egypt to buy more grain, bringing Joseph’s only full brother, Benjamin, with them as he’d ordered. But when Judah pleaded for Joseph to allow Benjamin to return to Jacob, Joseph was overcome with emotion and told them who he was. Jacob and the entire family entourage returned to Egypt and settled in the Nile delta, a land set apart from the native Egyptians who had a str...
Gilbert House Fellowship #270: Genesis 41-43
June 28, 2020 15:59 - 1 hour - 61.7 MBALL OF us have had a wilderness experience of one kind of another. For Joseph, much of it was spent in prison cells. Two years after interpreting dreams for the baker and cupbearer for the king of Egypt, Joseph is summoned to make sense of a pair of disturbing dreams for the pharaoh. You know the story: God showed the king that seven years of plenty would be followed by seven years of famine. Pharaoh placed Joseph in charge of storing up grain for the lean years. We discuss the reason that...
Gilbert House Fellowship #269: Genesis 38-40
June 14, 2020 16:40 - 1 hour - 58.3 MBIF THE Bible had truly been edited to make the apostles, prophets, and patriarchs look better, chapter 38 of Genesis would have disappeared long ago. This week, we discuss the unseemly episode of Judah’s relationship with his daughter-in-law, Tamar, by whom he fathered Perez, an ancestor of Jesus. We also discuss the history of the period to explain the timeline between Abraham and the Exodus, which is variously described as “four hundred years” (Gen. 15:13, Acts 7:6), “the fourth generati...
Gilbert House Fellowship #268: Genesis 36-37
June 07, 2020 16:48 - 1 hour - 60.5 MBJOSEPH APPEARS to have been something of a spoiled brat. Either he had no self-awareness at all or his self-image was so inflated that he didn’t care what his brothers thought of him. The story of Joseph’s brothers selling him into slavery is a reminder that even in times of trouble, God has a plan, and He brings His plans to fruition through flawed and imperfect humans. We also discuss the history of the chiefs and kings of Edom, including the interesting reference to one “Shaul of Rehobo...
Gilbert House Fellowship #267: Genesis 33-35
May 31, 2020 17:13 - 1 hour - 57.7 MBJACOB WAS not exactly an ideal father. His reaction to the rape of his daughter Dinah by the prince of the city of Shechem is puzzling. Genesis chapter 34 shows that he didn’t say anything when learning of Dinah’s humiliation, or while his sons Simeon and Levi, two of Dinah’s six brothers by their mother Leah, plotted revenge against the city of Shechem, slaughtering the men after deceiving them into being circumcised. Jacob’s concern was not for Dinah or the murdered men, but for himself...
Gilbert House Fellowship #266: Genesis 31-32
May 24, 2020 15:56 - 1 hour - 61.5 MBFEEDING THE dead was an integral part of the world in which Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob lived. We’ve previously discussed Abraham’s distress at not having an heir to provide for him in the afterlife; this week, we explain why Jacob’s father-in-law, Laban, was so upset about losing his teraphim, the small idols that represented dead ancestors who had to be summoned to a meal every month with a necromancy ritual called kispum. We also discuss Jacob’s separation from Laban, his encounter with a...
Gilbert House Fellowship #265: Genesis 28-30
May 17, 2020 15:46 - 1 hour - 58.6 MBPORTALS AND contact with the spirit realm are at the heart of this week’s Bible study. First, we discuss Jacob’s dream during his journey from the Negev to Haran in northern Mesopotamia. We’ve heard the term “Jacob’s ladder,” but the underlying Hebrew word reveals that what he saw was more likely a ziggurat—an ancient Mesopotamian pyramid that represented a stairway to heaven. We explain the connection between Bethel, “House (or Temple) of God,” and the stone idols later worshiped all over...
Gilbert House Fellowship #264: Genesis 26-27
May 10, 2020 15:05 - 1 hour - 59.4 MBISAAC IS a transitional character in the Bible, serving mainly as the bridge between Abraham and Jacob. We discuss the stories of Isaac’s adult life—his lie about Rebekah to the king of Gerar and how how Jacob received the blessing that Isaac had planned to give Esau. While it’s hard to reconcile the deception of Rebekah and Jacob, we must remember that Esau thought so little of his birthright that he sold it to Jacob for a bowl of stew (Gen. 25:29-34). Our latest book Veneration is now av...
Gilbert House Fellowship #263: Genesis 23-25
May 03, 2020 17:20 - 1 hour - 67.6 MBWE REACH the end of Abraham’s time on earth this week. We discuss the death of Sarah, Abraham’s purchase of the cave of Machpelah, the marriage of Isaac, the birth of Esau and Jacob, and the short-sightedness of Esau in selling off his birthright for a bowl of beans. Our latest book Veneration is now available for Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader! Click here and find out why readers rate Veneration 4.7 out of 5, describing it as "a must read" that "opens up…the Bible’s hidden mysteries." Down...
Gilbert House Fellowship #262: Genesis 19:30-22:24
April 26, 2020 17:30 - 1 hour - 61.8 MBHE SURVIVED the destruction of Sodom, but Lot didn’t seem very happy about it. This week, we discuss the aftermath of the fiery destruction of the cities of the plain, which also leveled Jericho, according to archaeologists. Lot and his daughters retreated into the hills and lived a hermit-like existence in a cave overlooking the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. Their isolation led to the incestuous creation of the nations of Moab and Ammon, longtime enemies of Israel in the centuries that fo...
Gilbert House Fellowship #261: Genesis 18, 19:1-29
April 19, 2020 17:08 - 1 hour - 68.6 MBTHE DESTRUCTION of Sodom and Gomorrah was not about alternative lifestyles—and yes, it really happened. This week, we discuss Abraham’s encounter with God and two angels at the Oaks of Mamre near Hebron, a more likely reason for God’s judgment on Sodom, and we explain why the angels warned Lot to “escape to the hills, lest you be swept away”—and why Lot’s wife really was turned into a pillar of salt. Links you’ll want to explore after hearing this episode: DigSodom.com, the website of the...
Gilbert House Fellowship #260: Resurrection
April 12, 2020 16:44 - 1 hour - 66.6 MBHe is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Matthew 28:6 (ESV) That’s the beginning of our study on the Resurrection. We look at texts from the Old and New Testaments to explain that Christ’s resurrection is the template for what is in store for all who have accepted him as Lord and Savior. From Genesis through Revelation, history is anchored to one overarching theme: Whose children will be raised up at the last trump. Scriptures cited in this study: Job 19:25-27 Psalm 82 Isaiah 24...
Gilbert House Fellowship #259: Passover and the Triumphal Entry
April 05, 2020 17:13 - 1 hour - 60.4 MBWE SET aside our chronological reading order this week to look at scripture about the Passover and Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. We explain why these events were more than symbolic; they were acts of war in the spirit realm. We discuss the specific entities targeted at Passover, explain the Amorite kispum ritual, the reason Jesus rode a donkey colt into Jerusalem, why the time and place of the Transfiguration were important in this sequence of events, how the Parable of the Tenan...
Gilbert House Fellowship #258: Genesis 15-17
March 29, 2020 16:07 - 1 hour - 64.3 MBABRAHAM’S DISTRESS at being childless was caused by his concept of the afterlife. In the Amorite culture that dominated his world, it was believed that one’s quality of life after death depended on your descendants performing a monthly ritual to provide your food and drink. We explain the Amorite kispum ritual and why Abraham’s servant Eliezer was not necessarily from Damascus. According to scholar Nicolas Wyatt, the Hebrew phrase hû dammešeq was “a scribal gloss, explaining what was felt t...
Gilbert House Fellowship #257: Genesis 14
March 22, 2020 18:12 - 1 hour - 65.7 MBA WAR fought near the Dead Sea nearly 4,000 years ago is the focus of this week’s study. After Abram arrived in Canaan and settled near Hebron, his nephew Lot was captured by an army from Mesopotamia that had come to put down a rebellion by the king of Sodom and his allies. We discuss the meanings of the names of the rebel kings, the possible identities of the kings of the east, and the significance of the Rephaim tribes defeated by the kings of Mesopotamia. We also discuss Melchizedek (ma...
Gilbert House Fellowship #256: Genesis 12-13
March 01, 2020 17:53 - 1 hour - 76.9 MBGOD BEGINS a new phase of His plan to redeem humanity in this week’s study, as Abram is called from his homeland to journey south into Canaan. We explain again why Abram was not from Ur in Sumer, but from a town near modern Sanliurfa in southeastern Turkey. As you can see on a map, travelling to Canaan by way of Harran makes no sense. And beyond that, there are other cultural reasons that point to Abram’s northern Mesopotamian origins. We also discuss the significance of two of the key sit...
Gilbert House Fellowship #255: Gen. 10-11; Deut. 32:8-9
February 23, 2020 18:42 - 1 hour - 75.4 MBBEFORE WE pick up the story of Abraham, some context: When God divided the nations after the Tower of Babel incident, He placed them under the supervision of “sons of God,” angelic beings who were charged with carrying out His will while supervising His creation. We explain why understanding what happened at and after Babel is crucial to understanding the long supernatural war depicted in the Bible, not to mention the state of our fallen world today. Articles mentioned in this week’s study...
Gilbert House Fellowship #254: Job 39-42
February 16, 2020 18:14 - 1 hour - 67.1 MBLEVIATHAN AND BEHEMOTH are featured this week as God uses them to illustrate the difference between Him and Job. While these creatures are described as possessing almost unimaginable power, they are as pets to our Lord, who made them just as He made us. We discuss the nature of Leviathan and Behemoth (and no, we do not believe they were a whale, giant squid, hippo, elephant, crocodile, or dinosaurs) and their parallels in pagan religions such as Tiamat, the Canaanite sea-god Yam, the Sumeri...
Gilbert House Fellowship #253: Job 38
February 09, 2020 18:09 - 1 hour - 57.8 MBGOD ARRIVES on the scene to respond to Job’s complaints, and boy, does He bring the thunder. Literally. Speaking from a whirlwind, which is an image that had been co-opted by the fallen elohim to represent the Mesopotamian storm-god called Addu or Hadad (i.e., Baal). In fact, there are multiple references to the spirit realm and its rebellion in Job 38. God establishes His unequaled status in all Creation by reminding Job that he wasn’t there when God “laid the foundations of the earth” an...
Gilbert House Fellowship #252: Job 34-37
February 02, 2020 17:03 - 1 hour - 64.7 MBELIHU CONTINUES his rebuke of Job, refuting the older man’s arguments and then encouraging him to repent. As Elihu concludes his discourse by describing the thunder of God’s voice and the “golden splendor” of His “awesome majesty”—a hint of what’s to come when God arrives in a whirlwind in chapter 38. Join us in Israel this year! We will lead another tour through the Holy Land October 12-25, 2020, with an optional four-day extension to the mysterious megalithic sites on the island of Sardin...
Gilbert House Fellowship #251: Job 28-33
January 26, 2020 18:09 - 1 hourJOB DELIVERS what is essentially his closing argument, recalling the days when his life was blessed, a respected member of the community, contrasting it with his current situation as one who’s mocked and despised. He asserts his innocence again, and issues another plea for a hearing. And then chapter 32 opens with a new character entering the scene: Elihu, a young man who’d been listening silently to his elders, unloads on Job and his friends. He’s angry at Job for justifying himself before...
Gilbert House Fellowship #250: Job 25-27
January 19, 2020 17:52 - 1 hour - 65.1 MBA DRAGON in the Bible? Yes! And we see it here in the Book of Job. What’s more, we see a connection between this primordial enemy of God and the spirits of the Nephilim. Even before God created the heavens and the earth, He subdued Chaos—variously called Leviathan, “the deep” (the abyss; Hebrew tehom), the sea (the Canaanite sea-god Yam), or, as here in Job 26:12, Rahab, “the fleeing serpent.” We also discuss the creation account of Job 26, which tells the story of the original chaoskampf,...
Gilbert House Fellowship #249: Job 20-24
January 12, 2020 18:26 - 1 hour - 64.8 MBJOB’S FRIENDS grow increasingly accusatory as we go through the book. This week, we hear the final speeches of Zophar and Eliphaz, who have gone from gently reminding Job that God punishes the wicked to accusing their miserable, suffering friend of mistreating the poor, widowed, and homeless! We speculate on the role of the accuser (“the satan”) in provoking their aggressive responses to Job, discuss the title of God in these chapters, the Almighty, and again contrast English Bible translat...
Gilbert House Fellowship #248: Job 18-19
December 15, 2019 17:49 - 1 hour - 63.7 MBJOB’S UNDERSTANDING of the afterlife was a reflection of the culture around him, which was dominated by the Amorites who controlled the ancient Near East from about 2000 BC to 1400 BC. They believed that the dead depended on the living to feed them to sustain them after death. But even with that, Job knew that his Redeemer lived, “and at the last he will stand upon the earth”—and that Job would see that day with his own eyes, a clear prophecy of the resurrection of the dead described by Pau...
Gilbert House Fellowship #246: Job 14-17
December 08, 2019 17:00 - 62.8 MBJOB CONTINUES his lament this week, openly wishing that he could hide in Sheol until God’s anger was past. In response, Eliphaz the Temanite accuses Job of guilt, asserting that God only punishes the wicked, something that we know is true, but judgment doesn’t always happen when we want it—right now, in the physical realm, where we can see it. Furthermore, we can see with our own eyes, as Job did, that bad things happen to good people. We also discuss a messianic prophecy, a reference to th...
Gilbert House Fellowship #245: Job 10-13
November 24, 2019 18:04 - 64.3 MBJOB FINALLY vents, declaring that he must speak freely since his effort to forget his complaint has failed. In chapter 10, Job addresses God in forceful language, accusing Him of being unjust and demanding answers for his suffering. Then Job’s second friend, Zophar the Naamathite, responds and offers little comfort. Zophar asserts that Job is guilty and deserving of God’s punishment—in fact, probably deserving of worse than he’s already suffered. Job replies that everyone knows God is sove...
Gilbert House Fellowship #244: Job 6-9
November 17, 2019 18:58 - 1 hour - 58.3 MBJOB REPLIES to the rebuke of Eliphaz and brings up some interesting points for our study this week. While admitting that God is just and all-powerful, the suffering Job still maintains that his complaints are justified. We see another reference to the divine council in Job’s mention of “the arrows of the Almighty (Shaddai)” and “the terrors of God.” Then we discuss Job’s anguished question, “Am I the sea(-god) [Yam], or a sea monster [tannin; i.e., a dragon] that you set a guard over me?” ...
Gilbert House Fellowship #243: Job 5
November 10, 2019 17:51THE DIVINE COUNCIL worldview is clearly reflected in the ongoing discourse of Eliphaz the Temanite, as he mentions the "Holy Ones," an epithet used elsewhere in the Old Testament for the Watchers (Daniel 4:13, 17). We also discuss the hidden meaning of the “sparks” in Job 5:7, the bene resheph or “sons of Resheph,” and the significance of the Canaanite plague-god Resheph (hint: Resheph was called Apollo by the Greeks and Romans). Question: Which god did Eliphaz serve? Was he a pagan? We as...
Gilbert House Fellowship #242: Job 2-4
November 03, 2019 18:15 - 64.2 MBTHE FRIENDS of Job are to be commended for giving up so much of their time to commiserate with him in his suffering. However, their understanding of the cause of his suffering is incomplete. At least they were more encouraging than Job’s wife, who advised him to “curse God and die.” We discuss the divine council reference in Job 2, the nature of Satan (or “the satan”), the location of the home of Eliphaz the Temanite, another clue that Job lived somewhere in what later became Edom (possibly...
Gilbert House Fellowship #241: Job 1
October 27, 2019 17:31JOB HAS become a symbol for patient suffering in the face of overwhelming adversity, but there’s a lot more to his story than that. This week, we begin our study of one of the most fascinating books of the Bible. We discuss the historical context of Job, the significance of Job’s probable homeland east of the Jordan River, our glimpse at the workings of the divine council, and the role of the satan in the council—because Satan wasn’t a proper name in the Old Testament. Download these studi...
Gilbert House Fellowship #240: Genesis 11:10-26
October 20, 2019 18:45 - 53.3 MBAFTER THE construction of Tower of Babel, the descendants of Noah spread across the earth. This week, we discuss the descendants of Shem, since it’s from his line that the Lord brought forth His Messiah. We also discuss the days of Peleg, whose name means to cleave or divide. What caused the breakup of the land masses of the earth in ancient times? Was it linked to the punishment of the Watchers who descended to Mount Hermon and were punished by being thrust down to Tartarus (2 Peter 2:4)? ...
Gilbert House Fellowship #239: Genesis 11:1-9
September 08, 2019 16:47 - 1 hour - 67.6 MBTHE TOWER of Babel was not at Babylon. It was at a place that was at least as important in the spiritual sense: Eridu. The Sumerians remember Eridu as the first city, where “kingship” was lowered from heaven, and, most important, it’s where the oldest and largest ziggurat in Mesopotamia was located. That was the temple of the god Enki, the E-abzu — the “House of the Abyss.” It was believed that Enki sent the gifts of civilization to humanity with the apkallu, the Mesopotamian Watchers, ang...
Gilbert House Fellowship #238: Genesis 10
September 01, 2019 16:16 - 64.7 MBTHE NATIONS of the world have their origins in decisions made in the years immediately following the Flood. This week, we discuss the table of nations and briefly summarize the migrations of the descendants of Shem, Japheth, and Ham. We also explain why Babel was important to Nimrod, a prelude to next week’s study on the Tower of Babel. Download these studies directly to your phone, tablet, or iPod! Get our free mobile app for iOS and Android. Links to the iTunes App Store and Google Play ...
Gilbert House Fellowship #237: Genesis 8-9
August 25, 2019 16:33THE SONS of Noah divided the world between them. It appears that the youngest, Ham, made a power play to usurp the birthright of the eldest — by having incestuous relations with his mother. This week, we discuss the aftermath of the Flood. We talk about the symbol of the rainbow, God’s command to Noah and his sons to fill the earth, and His prohibition on eating blood. We also unpack the odd story of the cursing of Canaan (Gen. 9:20-27) and what Ham actually did to bring that curse about h...
Gilbert House Fellowship #236: Genesis 6-7
August 11, 2019 16:58 - 75.3 MBTHE STORY of a global flood is common to many cultures all over the world. Today, we read the real story behind the flood of Noah. We read the corresponding chapters in the Book of 1 Enoch that expand on Genesis 6:1-4. It was more than just human sin that led to the Flood; the Watchers and their monstrous offspring brought witchcraft, sexual depravity, and even cannibalism to the earth. We also connect the length of time that water covered the earth, including all of the high mountains (pl...
Gilbert House Fellowship #235: Genesis 6:1-3
July 28, 2019 16:54 - 40.1 MBAT SOME point in our distant past, angels descended to the summit of Mount Hermon and made a pact to corrupt the earth through interbreeding and sharing knowledge that humanity was not meant to know. This week, we begin to decipher one of the strangest, but most important, sections of scripture in the Bible. We explain why Genesis 6 means what it says and compare it to the extrabiblical account in the Book of 1 Enoch. Here's a link to an article Derek wrote for the All Pro Pastors website,...
Gilbert House Fellowship #234: Genesis 4:16-5:32
July 14, 2019 16:46 - 1 hourPRIDE AND a drift away from the Creator is evident in today’s study, which features the generations of patriarchs between Adam and Noah. We discuss the first city built (Gen. 4:17) and explain why we think the builder was Cain’s son, Enoch (not the Enoch who “walked with God,” who was a descendant of Seth). That was probably the ancient city of Eridu, home of the god Enki, lord of the abyss, site of the oldest and largest ziggurat in Mesopotamia. We also discuss the pride of Lamech, descen...
Gilbert House Fellowship #233: Genesis 3:8-4:16
July 07, 2019 16:22 - 1 hour - 70.4 MBFAMILY RELATIONSHIPS have been messed up for millennia because of what happened in Eden. This week, we discuss the consequences of eating the forbidden fruit, taking a deep dive into Genesis 3:16, a difficult passage that suggests husbands and wives have been cursed by sin to struggle with one another for control. Then we talk about the curse directed at the serpent and explain why it has more to do with the Mesopotamian concept of the netherworld than why snakes don’t have legs. (Snakes n...
Gilbert House Fellowship #232: Genesis 2:10-3:7
June 30, 2019 17:01 - 1 hour - 66.9 MBTHE TREE in the middle of the garden proved to be a test and a trap—not just for Adam and Eve, but for the serpent as well. This week, we discuss the location of Eden and explain why it was Jerusalem based on the identities of the four rivers named in Genesis 2:10-13. We also talk about the relevance of the rivers Pishon, Gihon, Tigris and Euphrates to ancient cosmology, as reflected in Isaiah 47 and the ancient myth of the descent of Inanna (i.e., Ishtar, Astarte, Aphrodite, Venus, etc.) t...
Gilbert House Fellowship #231: Genesis 1:20-2:9
June 23, 2019 19:22 - 1 hour - 62.7 MBGARDENS WERE not just for growing vegetables in the ancient world. This week, as we study days five through seven of Creation Week, we discuss the spiritual significance of gardens in the ancient world and their connection to the cult of divinized ancestors, especially dead kings—in other words, the mighty men who were of old. We also discuss the identity of the “we” and “us” whose image we bear, the importance of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and dig into the original Hebrew...
Gilbert House Fellowship #230: Genesis 1:1-19
June 16, 2019 16:03 - 1 hour - 71.1 MBBACK TO the beginning! Today, we begin our study of the Old Testament for the second time, nearly five years after our very first dive into Genesis 1. We discuss the meaning of various Hebrew words and their implications, and we explain why the first chapter of the Bible isn’t just a creation account, it’s a repudiation of the creation stories told by the cultures of the ancient world. Join us this Tuesday, June 18, 2019 at Morningside in Blue Eye, Mo. We will be guests on upcoming episode...
Gilbert House Fellowship #229: From Gilgal Refaim to Glasgow
June 09, 2019 17:01 - 1 hour - 68.9 MBWE'RE BACK with a brief summary of highlights from our whirlwind tours of the Holy Land and the UK. We discuss sites we visited, such as Gilgal Refaim, Joshua's altar, and Harosheth Haggoyim (the headquarters of Sisera, commander of the army of the Canaanite king Jabin), the amazing artifacts at the British Museum, and an incredible divine appointment at the site of Aleister Crowley's home overlooking Loch Ness. Our next study of the Old Testament begins with Genesis 1 next week! Download...