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Lamentations is located immediately after the book of Jeremiah in the Christian Old Testament because of the traditional understanding that the prophet Jeremiah was the author of the book. But in the Jewish Bible, Lamentations is in the third and final section, grouped with other writings. The book is a series of five expressions of grief called la...
Read MoreThe prophet Jeremiah called the people of Israel to repent from their unfaithfulness, and announced judgment because they had broken their covenant with God. He prepared the people for exile in Babylon, but also anticipated that they would return and that God would make a new covenant with them. But what is a covenant? The word is ancient and bibl...
Read MoreThe book of Isaiah is the first of the prophetic books which make up the final section of the Old Testament. In each of these books, God spoke through the prophets to reveal the divine will to the people of Israel, and to call people to return to God’s way. Although the prophets sometimes spoke about the future, they are not to be seen primarily a...
Read MoreThe Song of Solomon, also known as “Song of Songs,” is a book of love poetry with two main characters: The female lover and the male lover. Their expressions of human love are meant to reveal the presence of God in all of life, even the most personal and intimate of encounters. Still, the Song is controversial. “The poem describes two young lovers...
Read MoreEcclesiastes is a wisdom book which contains the words of “the Teacher” or “the Preacher,” identified as “the son of David, king in Jerusalem” (Eccl 1:1). The book addresses the ultimate questions of life and death, beginning with the observation that “all is vanity” (Eccl 1:2). The Teacher — called Qoheleth in Hebrew — takes a cold-eyed look at t...
Read MoreThe question of how to live a good life is at the heart of the Book of Proverbs, a collection of short, pithy sayings. The book begins with words about wisdom and knowledge, and the eighth chapter describes wisdom as a woman, a female figure who takes her stand in the middle of human society and cries out, “To you, O people, I call, and my cry is...
Read MoreThe Hebrew title for this book is Tehillim, which is translated as “praises.” Together, this collection of praise songs served as the hymnbook of the people of Israel. “The Book of Psalms has no plot to summarize, no narrative to recall,” writes professor of Old Testament Tyler Mayfield. “It is a collection of 150 prayers and songs that give prais...
Read MoreJob is the first of five poetic books, the beginning of a new section of the Bible that includes Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs. The Book of Job is the story of a blameless and upright man who experienced the loss of his property, his children and his health, throwing him into a profound personal crisis. Although Job had live...
Read MoreIn the Protestant Bible, Esther is the last of the Historical Books. It is named after a Jewish woman, Esther, who was made queen of Persia by King Ahasuerus. Her rise to prominence began when Esther won the favor of a eunuch and was brought to the king, who fell in love with her. But the situation became complicated when Esther’s cousin Mordecai...
Read MoreDear FPC Members and Friends, We have all been horrified by the picture of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man, pleading for air while a white police officer kneels on his neck. Floyd died during this encounter, leading to the arrest of the officer. The death has sparked protests over the excessive force so often directed by law enforcement towa...
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