April 22 - The Goat for Azazel
נדה - Then he is to take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. He is to cast lots for the two goats—one lot for the Lord and the other…
Contributors
Chad Bird
Chad Bird is a Scholar in Residence at 1517. He has served as a pastor, professor, and guest lecturer in Old Testament and Hebrew. He holds master’s degrees from Concordia Theological Seminary and Hebrew Union College. He has contributed articles to Christianity Today, The Gospel Coalition, Modern Reformation, The Federalist, Lutheran Forum, and other journals and websites. He is also the author of several books, including Night Driving & Your God Is Too Glorious.
Chad Bird
Most Recent
Mapping God's Mercy: The Gospel in the Old Testament
How can we best talk about the Gospel with an Old Testament accent? Chad Bird provides us with a helpful "map" that highlights Egypt, the Red Sea, and Jerusalem. These three places represent the ways in which God graciously redeems, delivers, and sanctifies us. This brief essay was delivered at the 1517 Regional Conference in Bentonville, Arkansas, on April 17, 2021.
April 21 - What’s Wrong with Natural Body Functions
נדה - This is the law for him who has a discharge and for him who has an emission of semen, becoming unclean thereby; also for her who is unwell with her menstrual impurity, that is, for anyone, male or…
2 Samuel 5:1-25 (Episode 263)
King David takes Jerusalem.
April 20 - Unclean Doesn’t Mean Dirty
טמא - This is the law about beast and bird and every living creature that moves through the waters and every creature that swarms on the ground, to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean and between the…
April 19 - A Priestly Handful
מלאים - [Moses said to Aaron and his son,] "And you shall not go outside the entrance of the tent of meeting for seven days, until the days of your ordination are completed, for it will take seven days to…
April 18 - Sin and Reparation Offerings
חטאת - "If the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly... when the sin which they have committed becomes known, the assembly shall offer a bull from the herd for…
April 17 - Shalom Sacrifices
שׁלמים - “If his offering is a sacrifice of peace offering, if he offers an animal from the herd, male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the Lord. And he shall lay his hand on the head…
April 16 - Sharing Salt with Jesus
מלח - “You shall season all your grain offerings with salt. You shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt." LEVITICUS 2:13
April 15 - Not a Holy BBQ
עלה - “If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish. He shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the Lord. He…
April 14 - Bringing an Offering
קרב - The Lord called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When any one of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring…
April 13 - Michelangelo and Horned Moses
קרן - When Moses came down from Mount Sinai... [He] did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God... And when Moses had finished speaking with [the Israelites], he put a veil…
2 Samuel 3:31-4:12 (Episode 262)
David knows how to reward cowards.
April 12 - The Jealous God
קנא - You shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. EXODUS 34:14
April 11 - Seeing God’s Backside
אחור - And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover…
April 10 - Breaking the Law, Literally
לחת - Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets that were written on both sides; on the front and on the back they were written. The tablets…
April 9 - From Divine to Bovine
עגל מסכה - And [Aaron] received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land…
April 8 - Melting Down Mirrors
כיור - The Lord said to Moses, “You shall also make a basin of bronze, with its stand of bronze, for washing. You shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in…
April 7 - O Lord, Smell My Prayer
קטרת - "You shall make an altar on which to burn incense; you shall make it of acacia wood... And you shall put it in front of the veil that is above the ark of the testimony, in front of…
April 6 - Christ’s Vestments
בגדי־קדשׁ - "Then bring near to you Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the people of Israel, to serve me as priests—Aaron and Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. And you shall make holy…
2 Samuel 3:6-30 (Episode 261)
Revenge ruins everything.
April 5 - The Veil
פרכת - "And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it... And you shall hang the veil from the clasps, and bring…
April 4 - The Illuminating Tree of Life
מנורה - "You shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand shall be made of hammered work: its base, its stem, its cups, its calyxes, and its flowers shall be of one piece with it." EXODUS 25:31
April 3 - Bread of the Face
לחם פנים - "You shall make a table of acacia wood. Two cubits shall be its length, a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height... And you shall set the bread of the Presence on the…
God’s Sabbath Sleep: How Christ Filled in the Gap in the Creation Story
Tomorrow Jesus will laugh his way out of the tomb, spit in the face of death, and kick the devil in the throat as he dances to the clapping glee of angelic masses. But today he just rests.
Featured Resources
Christ in the Old Testament
Why read the Old Testament now that we have the New Testament? When we're reading the Old Testament, we're reading a book that is all about Christ. When Christ talked about himself, and when his earliest believers talked about who he was and what he was accomplishing through his acts of salvation, they referred to the Old Testament. Enroll in…
40 Minutes in the Old Testament
Welcome to 40 Minutes in the Old Testament, a show that moves chapter by chapter through the Old Testament, diving into scripture, and conversing about the sinner and saint aspects of God's Word.
Upcoming Events
Chad Bird - Ocean Grove, NJ
Rediscovering the Centrality of Christ in the Old Testament
Chad Bird - Camp Arcadia, MI
The Christ Key: Unlocking the Mystery of Jesus in the Old Testament
Here We Still Stand 2021
Consciences Captive to the Word of God