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Genesis 10: Nations
This chapter goes through the genealogies of the three sons of Noah. There are a 70 names listed, and several of them are the names of tribes and nations that later pop up in the Bible times and still today. Japheth has seven sons listed and of those sons, seven significant grandsons are also listed.…
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Genesis 5: Generations
This chapter repeats the part about God creating man, the word adam meaning of earth, “Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created.” Genesis 5:2 Then it says Adam lived another 800 years after Seth was born and had more daughters and sons. After Seth…
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Foreign War and Family Lore
Two weeks ago, Tim and I used the special computer down at the Brookwood Library that is dedicated to ancestry to search our family tree. Having a common last name like Adams makes it pretty challenging to search up at Tim’s family tree because there are literally hundreds of Adams, Adamses?, dotting the East Coast.…
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2 Corinthians 1: Comfort & Joy
In Paul’s second letter to the Church at Corinth he includes a greeting for the Saints of Achaia. It was the southern part of Greece including Corinth and Athens that was one province under Roman rule. He addresses them by “the will of God and Timothy our brother.” Timothy had been introduced as a leader…
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Acts 25: Power Plays
In this chapter, Festus shows up in Caesarea to take Governor Felix’s place, around AD 59. Immediately Paul’s accusers in Jerusalem use the arrival to request a new trial hoping for another ambush attempt. Festus doesn’t move Paul, but hears them out. Lacking evidence of their accusations, he questions Paul who lays out his defense.…
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Acts 24: Justice Deferred
In this chapter, Governor Felix of Caesarea holds Paul in jail until the high priest arrives with the elders and spokesman Tertullus, a Roman orator. The hired advocate speaks flattering words to the governor and accuses Paul of causing stirring up riots and promoting a sect of Nazarenes, because Jesus was from Nazareth. He claims…
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Acts 23: 40 Angry Men
In this chapter, the tribune, the local Roman authority named Claudius Lysias, brings together religious leaders including the Pharisees and Sadducees to converse with Paul and solve their conflict. Paul gets up and says he has lived his life before God in good conscience. Head priest Ananias demands someone hit Paul in the mouth for…
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Acts 7: Martyr
At the temple, Stephen retells the spiritual history of Israel from the perspective of the Holy Spirit. He starts with the calling of Abraham to go West from Mesopotamia to a yet unknown promised land. Then he tells of the subsequent years of slavery in Egypt and Israel’s salvation through Moses, Aaron and gift of…
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John 19: Death of a King
Early Friday morning, Pilate has Jesus flogged and beaten and the soldiers put him into a purple robe and a crown of thorns as a mockery of his being called a king. In this state, they return him to the Jewish leadership. Pilate says, “Behold the man.” They called for Jesus’s crucifixion, but Pilate said…