Blogs – L. J. Anderson – Author and Blogger

Interpretive Commentary on Zechariah 12-14

Historical Setting and Date

The historical setting of Zechariah is the reign of King Darius, specifically the eighth month of the second year of his reign. It then moves through to the fourth year of King Darius’s reign which is the last date seen in the book itself. Thus, the first eight chapters of the book can be dated accurately to 520-518 B.C. based on the prophecies found within the chapters.[1] However, chapters nine through fourteen have prophecies that are not dated and there is more ambiguity as to what time frame these prophecies are referencing. Scholars have different views as to when these prophecies should be dated, but they typically date them after the first eight chapters.[2]

Interpretive Commentary of 2 Chronicles 26-29

Historical Setting and Date

The name “Chronicles” came from St. Jerome in the 4^th century A.D.[1] However, the Hebrew name of Chronicles is דברי הימים divre hayamim meaning “words of the days.” Originally, 1 and 2 Chronicles were one book. They were later split into two by the translators of the Septuagint.[2] Thus, it is important to look at both of them together as one book. The author sets the book, for the most part, in the time of the kings, though it starts with a whopping nine chapters of genealogies starting with Adam and going down through to Saul who is briefly addressed in chapter nine of 1 Chronicles. Though the setting is the kings of Israel, the book was not written during the era of the kings. Instead, it was written to the exiles who had returned from Babylon after the events of Chronicles took place.[3] The likely date of writing is between 400 and 500 B.C.[4]

Interpretive Commentary on 2 Chronicles 26-29

Historical Setting and Date

The name “Chronicles” came from St. Jerome in the 4^th century A.D.[1] However, the Hebrew name of Chronicles is דברי הימים divre hayamim meaning “words of the days.” Originally, 1 and 2 Chronicles were one book. They were later split into two by the translators of the Septuagint.[2] Thus, it is important to look at both of them together as one book. The author sets the book, for the most part, in the time of the kings, though it starts with a whopping nine chapters of genealogies beginning with Adam and going down through to Saul who is briefly addressed in chapter nine of 1 Chronicles. Though the setting is the kings of Israel, the book was not written during the era of the kings. Instead, it was written to the exiles who had returned from Babylon after the events of Chronicles took place.[3] The likely date of writing is between 400 and 500 B.C.[4]

What Does It Mean to Love God and Others?

Jesus tells us that we are to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and all our strength. Second, we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. But what does that actually look like? After all, many people believe that love is a chemical, an emotion, or a feeling. To be sure, there is some level of truth to that. However, is that idea biblical? Not really.

What are Doctrines and Why do They Matter?

What are doctrines? From a Christian perspective, doctrines are simply teachings that are found in Scripture. Put another way, everything taught in Scripture fits under the word “doctrine.” But, what does that mean from a practical point of view, and why does it matter? Continue reading “What are Doctrines and Why do They Matter?”

The Power of Reason for Evangelism

A few weeks ago, I posted The Power of Your Testimony. In this post, I discussed why your testimony can be so powerful for evangelism, but I also made the claim that reason is another one of these powerful tools. Now, there are other tools we can use to spread our faith, but these two blogs focus on what you can say to convince others that God is real and worth pursuing.

Use of “Yahweh”

This topic is one that I have been interested in for quite some time now. I knew that every time the Bible uses “LORD” in all caps that what was written in Hebrew was something different from the Hebrew word for lord. But, I really didn’t care to look into it much more than that. That is until I started reading verses where it didn’t make sense. In these verses “LORD” or “the LORD” was written, but it doesn’t make sense. Let me give you some examples of verses that confused me. “The LORD is a warrior, the LORD is His name” (Exodus 15:3), or again “I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to graven images” (Isaiah 42:8 (also look up: Psalm 68:4, Jeremiah 33:2, Exodus 6:3, Amos 5:8 and 9:6, Hosea 12:5, and many more)). What is wrong with all of these verses?

Charismatic vs Evangelical

The two major sides in Christian circles revolve around these two words. Most people take these sides whether they know it or not. I believe this is the case because it is in human nature to go to extremes. The chasm caused by these two words is, quite frankly, despicable. Christians are supposed to be unified, but we are probably the most divided “unified” group out there, and the words “Charismatic” and “Evangelical” are at the center of it.

The Power of Your Testimony

Despite what we often think, the most powerful tool for evangelism isn’t just bringing up the “Romans Road” as many of us have been taught. For those of you who don’t know, the “Romans Road” is basically five verses in Romans that make up our need for Christ, what He has done for us, and how we go about surrendering to Him (See Romans 3:23, 6:23, 5:8, 10:9 and 5:1). Though knowing and being able to teach what it is to become a Christian is vastly important, it isn’t the most powerful tool for the job. It really is rather simple, but that is a blog for another time. From a teaching standpoint, there are two tools that are more powerful than the Romans Road. These are your testimony and reason. They come at it from two completely different angles, and they both have their positives and negatives. Realistically, the most powerful tool is a combination of the two but addressing them both individually will hopefully show how to use either one as a witness for Christ. Obviously, based on the title of this blog, I am addressing the former one. I will be doing a blog on the power of reason for evangelism in the next couple of weeks and will link to that on here. Continue reading “The Power of Your Testimony”

Is There an Antichrist?

While listening to Brian Simmons, author of The Passion Translation, I heard some very interesting teaching on eschatology (i.e. the study of prophecy/end times prophecy). By interesting, I mean that it was radically different than anything I have heard before.