NEW SERIES: Characters of the Bible

Hello, everyone and happy National Voter Registration Day! We’re coming up on October soon and will have some big announcements in the next blog update. We’ve got some big plans for Reformation Day that we cannot wait to share with you! More to come next time! If you need to catch back up on a previous series or episode you may have missed, check out our library here!

Last Friday, we finished up our short series on the Beatitudes. I speak for the three of us when I say that it was even more challenging than we had anticipated. That said, it definitely made us think a bit more deeply about one of Jesus’ most famous teachings and that is always worth any challenge.

But, as you may have seen yesterday, we have begun our biggest project yet: a series on the characters of the Bible! This new series is going to be our longest so far at six-and-a-half weeks. We can’t wait to see what God reveals to all of us between now and mid-December. Let’s  see what these characters’ stories can tell us about ourselves and God’s character!

If you have appreciated how God has used this podcast and want to help support it, visit our Patreon page here. We have quite a bit planned for our Patrons so, if you want to find out more, go check it out! Now let’s get on with our preview of the next two weeks of Bite Size Theology!

Week 1 (9/23-9/27):

Monday 9/23: Introduction to Biblical Characters

By Aaron Lively
Today we will be starting a new 10-week series on some of the most prominent characters in the Bible, from the very first people God made, Adam and Eve, all the way through the Old and New Testaments. We won’t just be talking about the major characters in the Bible, like your Davids and Esthers and Pauls, but we also hope to introduce some lesser known characters and what their life stories can teach us about who God is. This will be our largest series yet.

Before we jump in, the obvious question is, why study the characters in the Bible? Well, one of the most fascinating things about God is, from the very moment he created human beings, he’s almost never throwing down lightning bolts and accomplishing his goals by himself. God cares more about the formation of the human heart than he does about dropping a solution to our problems out of the sky, which means that he’s always commissioning human beings to go and accomplish his mission. This pattern is absolutely everywhere in Scripture, from the moment God tells Adam and Eve to cultivate his creation, to the moment he tells Moses to go tell Pharoah to let the Israelites go, to the moment he commissions Mary to bring Jesus into the world, to the moment he sends the church the Holy Spirit and commissions us to spread the gospel and renew our communities to this very day…

Tuesday 9/24: Characters (Pt. 1) – Adam and Eve

By Aaron Lively

We open this series with the first human beings in all of the Bible. The creation account in Genesis 1 culminates with the creation of humanity, and it goes like this:

Then God said, “’Let us make humanity in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

What’s striking about this account is that humanity is created last as God’s crowning achievement of his created work. The refrain that’s written after God makes each component of the world is, “And God saw that it was good.” But after God creates humanity, the refrain changes. “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” Humanity is God’s most prized aspect of his creation, engineered to bear his image, which means reason, love, creativity, and agency, all qualities of God, are uniquely given to humanity in a way that isn’t exhibited by any other creature. Adam and Eve are given the task of reflecting God’s goodness, authority, and love on Earth, and the responsibility of stewarding his creation…

Wednesday 9/25: Characters (Pt. 2) – Cain and Abel

By Sage Blalock

The story of Cain and Abel is one that we are all probably familiar with. But, for those who don’t know it, let’s take a look at Genesis 4:1-16:

“1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” 2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”

8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?”…

Thursday 9/26: Characters (Pt. 3) – Noah

By Sage Blalock

From Genesis chapter 6 to chapter 9, we read the story of Noah. It’s a story that we all know: God sees the sinfulness of humanity and decides to wipe them all out with a flood. But Noah finds favor in God’s eyes, prompting God to save Noah, his family, and two of every animal using a giant ship known as Noah’s Ark. From Noah, of course, came all of humanity.

Noah’s story, like many others throughout the Bible, shows the depravity of humankind. The total and complete sinfulness described in Genesis reflects Paul’s summation of the human predicament in Romans 3:10-18:

“None is righteous, no, not one;
¹¹     no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
¹² All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
¹³ “Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
¹⁴     “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
¹⁵ “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
¹⁶     in their paths are ruin and misery,
¹⁷ and the way of peace they have not known.”
¹⁸     “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

There are many things that could be examined in this story, from God being grieved that He made people to the relationships Noah had with his sons. But today we will look at Noah himself and what his life tells us about God…

Friday 9/27: Extended Edition #15: Ministry

Week 2 (9/30-10/4):

Monday 9/30: Characters (Pt. 4) – Abraham and Sarah

By Aaron Lively

Tuesday 10/1: Characters (Pt. 5) – Lot and is Wife

By John McCord     

Wednesday 10/2: Characters (Pt. 6) – Isaac

By Sage Blalock

Thursday 10/3: Characters (Pt. 7) – Jacob and Esau

By Aaron Lively

Friday 10/4:  Characters (Pt. 8) – Rachel and Leah

By Sage Blalock

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