Kalev Creative

What if Genesis 1 wasn’t about the origin of matter—but the enthronement of God? And what if “rest” wasn’t the end of work, but the beginning of reign? In this episode, Rachel Booth Smith, author of… Creation, Rest, and Reign: What Genesis Meant to the Ancient World (Rachel Booth Smith) Ep. #224

📺 Watch the episode now!
Rachel Booth Smith compares Genesis to other ancient creation myths—and finds beauty in what’s missing.

🎥 buff.ly/4C3XAls

#biblicalmind

“If I can get to the end of a Sabbath and realize you are God and I am not, I feel like that was a win.”
— Rachel Booth Smith

🎧 buff.ly/03wEbqn

#biblicalmind

YouTube video by St John's College, Winnipeg MB Wilmot Lecture 2025

If you were one of those poor misbegotten unfortunates who were unable to attend the 2025 Wilmot Lecture, here it is again for your viewing pleasure: youtu.be/MTqnt_cpa10

ᴋᴀʟᴇᴠ ᴄʀᴇᴀᴛɪᴠᴇ on X: "The first ten pages of the Bible give us paradigms of good and bad that remain useful today. It’s election season in the US, so let’s check on the leader 85% of evangelical Christians reportedly voted for in the last election since he’s a nominee again. https://t.co/y9tNO7fwio" / X The first ten pages of the Bible give us paradigms of good and bad that remain useful today. It’s election season in the US, so let’s check on the leader 85% of evangelical Christians reportedly voted for in the last election since he’s a nominee again. https://t.co/y9tNO7fwio

x.com/kalevcreativ...

Genesis 1–11 as Introduction and Paradigm - Cateclesia Institute Ben Thomas The early chapters of the Bible present stories that seem distant from our experiences, difficult to comprehend, even...

The majority of American evangelicals chose a leader who looks like Genesis 4-11 and are conforming to his image

Exodus 22:21 "You must not wrong a resident foreigner nor oppress him, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. Exodus 23:9 "You must not oppress a resident foreigner, since you know the life of a foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. Leviticus 19:33 When a resident foreigner lives with you in your land, you must not oppress him. Leviticus 19:34 The resident foreigner who lives with you must be to you as a native citizen among you; so you must love the foreigner as yourself, because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. Leviticus 23:22 When you gather in the harvest of your land, you must not completely harvest the corner of your field, and you must not gather up the gleanings of your harvest. You must leave them for the poor and the resident foreigner. I am the Lord your God.'" Leviticus 24:22 There will be one regulation for you, whether a resident foreigner or a native citizen, for l am the Lord your God." Numbers 15:15 One statute must apply to you who belong to the congregation and to the resident foreigner who is living among you, as a permanent statute for your future generations. You and the resident foreigner will be alike before the Lord. Numbers 15:16 One law and one custom must apply to you and to the resident foreigner who lives alongside you" Deuteronomy 10:19 So you must love the resident foreigner because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. Deuteronomy 24:14 You must not oppress a lowly and poor servant, whether one from among your fellow Israelites or from the resident foreigners who are living in your land and villages. Deuteronomy 24:17 You must not pervert justice due a resident foreigner or an orphan, or take a widow's garment as security for a loan. Deuteronomy 27:19 'Cursed is the one who perverts justice for the resident foreigner, the orphan, and the widow.'

Psalms 146:9 The Lord protects the resident foreigner. He lifts up the fatherless and the widow, but he opposes the wicked. Jeremiah 7:6 Stop oppressing resident foreigners who live in your land, children who have lost their fathers, and women who have lost their husbands. Stop killing innocent people in this land. Stop paying allegiance to other gods. That will only bring about your ruin. Ezekiel 22:6-7 "See how each of the princes of Israel living within you has used his authority to shed blood. They have treated father and mother with contempt within you; they have oppressed the resident foreigner among you; they have wronged the orphan and the widow within you. Malachi 3:5 "I will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination; those who commit adultery; those who break promises; and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, who refuse to help the resident foreigner and in this way show they do not fear me," says the Lord of Heaven's Armies.

Michael Morales

New: Braille Resources for Reading Ancient Languages [Photo by me. Tactile graphic by Crystal Peng.]   I recently created a new section of my website, which provides educational resources for anyone who wants to read ancient Middle Eastern and North …

Today I published a new section of my website with resources for those who wish to learn, study, and/or teach ancient languages using braille. It rests on work we did over the past year to expand screen reader access to these languages through the LibLouis library. Check it out and share around!

Joshua — Kalev Creative

Consolidated notes on Joshua

Joshua — Kalev Creative

Consolidated notes on Joshua

Pretty sure that when you have giant frogs everywhere, God is very disappointed in how you are treating immigrants.

This completes our notes on the book of Joshua. This project began in 2019 in Genesis 1. Its goal from its inception is now one chapter away – Judges 1, the end of Caleb’s narrative.

Joseph’s bones are interred in the land his father bought at Shechem.
Eleazar the priest, son of Aaron, dies and is buried on his son Phineas’ allotted land.
Israel worshiped the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and as long as the elderly men who outlived him remained alive.

'Look, this stone will be a witness against us, for it has heard everything the Lord said to us. It will be a witness against you if you deny your God.' When Joshua dismissed the people, they went to their allotted portions of land.”
Joshua dies and is buried in his allotted land.

and he established rules and regulations for them in Shechem. Joshua wrote these words in the Law Scroll of God. He then took a large stone and set it up there under the oak tree near the Lord’s sanctuary. Joshua said to all the people,

he will turn against you; he will bring disaster on you and destroy you, though he once treated you well.”
Joshua admonishes the people to set aside foreign gods and remain faithful to the Lord God of Israel.
“That day Joshua drew up an agreement for the people,

but Joshua knows better than to believe they will remain faithful, “You will not keep worshiping the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God who will not forgive your rebellion or your sins. If you abandon the Lord and worship foreign gods,

whether it be the gods whom your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But I and my family will worship the Lord.”
The people acknowledge the things God has done for them and pledge loyalty to him,

Put aside the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt, and worship the Lord. If you have no desire to worship the Lord, then choose today whom you will worship,

“I gave you a land in which you had not worked hard; you took up residence in cities you did not build, and you are eating the produce of vineyards and olive groves you did not plant.”
Joshua exhorts the Israelites, “Now obey the Lord and worship him with integrity and loyalty.

God confirms he was with them and sent the hornet as he first promised in Exodus 23. We don’t get any additional hints about what the hornet was, just confirmation it did its intended work. God confirms he has fulfilled the promise he previously made in Deuteronomy 6:10-11,

God recounts the history of his relationship with Israel beginning with Abraham and continuing through the current generation, spending the most time on their conflicts as they approached and entered the land to receive it as an inheritance.

David Firth, in his Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary, assesses Joshua is speaking as a prophet. Joshua states these are the words of YHWH, “the God of Israel” and the Israelites “present themselves before the Lord,” both leader and people consciously engaged in honoring God for the moment.

the location of Jacob’s purchase of land as he re-entered after his self-imposed exile, the city of the prince who abused and kidnapped Dinah whose people Jacob’s sons then massacred and enslaved, and part of the inheritance of Ephraim, Joshua’s tribe.

#Bible #Joshua 24 #renewal
Joshua gathers all the tribes at Shechem. It’s unclear whether the location is significant here beyond being centrally located, but Shechem does have resonance in Israel’s family history as the first named stop in Abraham’s journey into Canaan,

In a new project I am working on together with Asaf Timor, a scholar and professional ritual scribe (סופר סת"ם), we are preparing a set of tefillin using exclusively ancient methods and materials.

The work is based on research we’ve conducted in recent years on the Judean Desert tefillin...
🧵1/3

saying God will not go before them if they do and ultimately they will disappear from the land.

Joshua credits God with faithfully delivering them the land and encourages them to uphold their end of the agreement by continuing to conquer the territory they’ve been assigned. He warns them of making alliances with those who would turn them away from God,