The Bible claims that Moses is a Levite. As it turns out, this Levitical Link is one of the few things that even the most skeptical scholars are willing to admit as evidence suggestive of the Exodus and a historical Moses. What is the Levitical Link?
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In the third class of the Honest to Moses series, we begin to sort through the biblical sources in order to determine what can be known of the family of Moses. According to our sources, we have names for the parents of Moses and at least three siblings. These texts are not without problems, however.
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In this second class of the Honest to Moses series, we begin the quest for the historical Moses with a study of the origins of the name Moses. Exodus chapter two relates that the name is associated with the verb to draw out (משה). Some suggest that the name is more likely of Egyptian origin. What is the truth concerning the name Moses?
Download and Print John “Baruch” Perry’s Teaching Notes
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This is the introductory class to a new teaching series titled Honest to Moses. This series is essentially a quest for the Historical Moses. What do we know about the man? What can we learn from a careful examination of the texts of the Bible? Fundamentalist believers – both Jews and Christians – credit Moses with writing the Pentateuch. Can this be proven? Many in the academic community doubt that he even existed. What is the truth about Moses, and about the texts attributed to his hand?
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In this week’s teaching, we study a term that is used in the Bible to describe the intimate counsel – a place where the righteous, and particularly, the prophets see and hear the words of God. Beginning with a passage in Amos chapter 3 and working through other related texts we define the Hebrew term and then cover the principle message that many of the prophets heard in the “secret counsel.”
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In this teaching we take a close look at the identity of the servant. In a previous class we demonstrated that the suffering servant was a group within the larger servant nation. Can we be more specific? Do the texts of Hebrew Bible provide enough information to identify the servant?
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The identity of the “Suffering Servant” has been debated since ancient times. There have been many proposed candidates. Is it the people of Israel, the Messiah, or a historical figure such as Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, or Jesus of Nazareth? In this fifth and final class in The Servant Series we look at the main proposals. Does Isaiah tell us who this suffering servant is?
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Can we know the identity of the Servant in Isaiah? Within the section of Isaiah known to scholars as Deutero-Isaiah or “second Isaiah” there are 20 references to the servant in ten chapters. In some of these passages, the servant is clearly identified as Israel while in others the identification is not so certain. In this class we begin to survey the texts searching the clues for answers. Is the “suffering servant” the Jewish people, the Messiah, Israel / Jacob, the historical Jesus of Nazareth, Isaiah, Jeremiah, or another?
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The story of the Exodus is well-known. According to some estimates, this Passover marks the 3,333rd celebration of this ancient festival of Freedom. At the heart of the story are the ideals of freedom and liberty. For what purpose were the children of Israel freed from Egypt? This class seeks to present the case that Israel was saved to serve and in this sense is a servant with a global and noble role.
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This class is the third in our series within a series on The Servant in Isaiah. In the first two classes, we examined the first two sections called Servant Songs (Isaiah 42:1-4 and 49:1-6). In this class we continue to carefully study these texts, bringing in other texts in order to better understand all that these passages tell us about the Servant.
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In 1892, a German scholar named Bernhard Duhm published a book titled, Das Buch Jesaiah (Gottingen: Vandenhoek & Ruprecht, 1892). Duhm is credited with being the first to identify four “songs,” or “poems” within Deutero-Isaiah (chapters 40-66) which he called Servant Songs. These four Isaiah texts (42:1-4; 49:1-6; 50:4-7; 52:13-53:12) provide us with the basis for our ongoing study of the Servant in Isaiah. This class, the second in our series, covers the second Servant Song (Isaiah 49:1-6), but as you will see, the texts comprising these songs do not even begin to cover all that Isaiah says about the servant.
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This class begins to reveal the identity of a specially chosen group. What is meant by chosen? The group is referred to as witnesses. What are they to witness? Within this section of Isaiah, we also encounter one called the Servant. What is meant by this designation? Who is the servant of Isaiah? This is first class on the subject of the servant. Don’t miss next week’s class.
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