Showing results by author "Bill Creasy" in All Categories

From Solomon’s reign to the prophetic call of Elijah, 1 Kings tells the story of the collapse of David’s united monarchy into a nearly 100-year civil war and the fracture of a nation into two kingdoms: Israel and Judah. Logos Bible Study’s Dr. Bill Creasy journeys deeply into the historical and cultural nuances that underlie this amazing and compelling story.

In Ezra we witness the exiles’ return to rebuild the temple. Destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C., the temple is rebuilt and dedicated in 516 B.C. But it is nothing like the fabulous temple Solomon built. In fact, when those who had seen Solomon’s temple see the second temple, they weep at its inadequacy!

Seventy-three of the 150 psalms are traditionally ascribed to David. As we read the "Davidic Psalms," we see deeply into David's heart as he struggles with God, with others and with himself. These psalms are deeply moving and often, brutally honest.

Paul sends 1 Corinthians to the church at Corinth, and when they receive the epistle, they are livid! They immediately write back to Paul in very harsh terms (the letter from Corinth has been lost, but Paul alludes to it in 2 Corinthians), prompting Paul to get on board ship in Ephesus, sail to Corinth and address the church in person. It is not a pleasant visit. When Paul gets back to Ephesus he has second thoughts about his “short but painful visit”, and he writes 2 Corinthians to smooth things over.

As Proverbs fits squarely into the genre of “advice to a son” literature, so the Song of Songs fits squarely into the genre of erotic love poetry. Traditionally read as an allegory of God’s love for Israel or of Christ’s love for the Church, Logos Bible Study’s Dr. Bill Creasy explores the Song of Songs as what it is, first and foremost: an erotic love poem written by Solomon in the final years of his life, a poem tinged with deep regret and longing.

If 1 & 2 Kings tell the story of the kings of Israel and Judah from man’s point of view, then 1 & 2 Chronicles tell the story of the kings of Israel and Judah from God’s point of view. From a literary perspective, 1 & 2 Chronicles form a recapitulation, a revisiting of familiar ground, offering new insights and new lessons. Join Logos Bible Study as Dr. Bill Creasy presents another masterful journey into one of the most compelling stories in human history.

From Genesis through Judges we have a straight, linear narrative; in Ruth we have a recapitulation, a backward glance into the main story. When we look over our shoulders at the linear path we have followed, we see only a charred, smoking and bloody landscape. Ruth is a diamond lying in the muck and mire of Judges, flashing in the sunlight. “Back in the days when the Judges ruled”... there was Ruth—the greatest love story in the Bible, a story of redemption.

Ezra and Nehemiah tell the story of those who return to Judah to rebuild the temple and Jerusalem. In fact, little more than 40,000 people return, only about 10% of the Jewish population in the Persian Empire. Esther tells the story of the 90% who remain behind. This is a fabulous story - and Dr. Creasy tells us the “X-rated” version!

The story of David continues in 2 Samuel. With the death of Saul and his three sons at Mt. Gilboa, the door opens for David to become king. But David has, in fact, no legitimate claim to the kingship; indeed, he has been working for a decade as a mercenary for Israel’s Philistine enemies. Listen as Dr. Bill Creasy follows David from the triumph of his kingship to his colossal fall and ultimate reconciliation with God.

If Isaiah is the “thundering prophet” and Jeremiah is the “weeping prophet”, then Ezekiel is the “weird prophet”! Taken captive in the second wave of Babylonian attacks on Jerusalem in 597 B.C., Ezekiel writes in Babylon about the 13 “visions” that comprise his book (593-573 B.C.) And strange visions they are! Ezekiel is the “street performer” of the prophets, acting out many of his prophecies in dramatic and strange ways. Join Logos Bible Study’s Dr. Bill Creasy as he follows Ezekiel, the weird prophet, in his street theater performance!

Logos Bible Study presents another masterful presentation of a how a divided kingdom will surely fall. Join Dr. Bill Creasy as he guides us across the landscape of a broken nation ruled by evil kings, the prophets who confront them, and the idolatrous worshippers who turn their backs on God. In the end, both Israel and Judah fall into captivity, and once again it seems that God’s plan of salvation has come to an end.

In 2 Chronicles we continue the 1 Chronicles narrative, tracing the fall of the southern kingdom of Judah and its exile into Babylon captivity. As God observes in 1 Chronicles, “Israel went into captivity because of its unfaithfulness.” This is a harrowing story of man’s willful disobedience and God’s righteous judgment.

With the conflict of sin fully resolved and “the great and dreadful day of the Lord” a memory, our linear narrative doubles back on itself: Revelation 20-22 bring us back to a new beginning. In Revelation 21: 1-5 we read: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband."

Joel may be the earliest of the writing prophets; if he is, then he introduces the term “the Day of the Lord” as a reference to a set of final, catastrophic events that will befall Israel—and indeed all humanity in the “end times.” Illustrating his message with reference to a dreadful locust plague that occurred in the past, we shudder as God makes clear that if Israel does not repent something much greater than a locust plague will occur.

It is A.D. 68, the final year of Nero’s four-year persecution of the church, and Paul has been arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced to death. In 2 Timothy Paul writes his “last will and testament,” appointing Timothy as the one who will take over Paul’s ministry after his death. At this point, Timothy has spent eighteen years with Paul and their relationship has developed into that of a father and a son.

Paul and Titus had worked together for many years, but in this letter Paul calls Titus to task. Left by Paul in Crete sometime between A.D. 63-67 to finish up the work they had started there, Titus has failed to complete the job. Paul writes this letter to give Titus a swift kick in the butt, telling him to complete the work quickly and to join Paul in western Greece as soon as possible.

Often incorrectly referred to as one of Paul’s “prison epistles” (he was not in prison in Rome in A.D. 60-62; he was living in his own rented house, free to come and go as he pleased), Ephesians is a brilliant exposition of Paul’s thesis that we are “saved by grace through faith”. It is also a glittering display of Paul’s rhetorical fireworks. Logos Bible Study’s Dr. Bill Creasy examines this extraordinary epistle in detail.

In Leviticus, God tells his people to “be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy” (Leviticus 19: 2). Leviticus is a handbook of holiness. Here God prescribes the five great sacrifices that enable a sinful people to be brought into fellowship with a holy God: 1) the burnt offering; 2) the grain offering; 3) the peace offering; 4) the sin offering; and 5) the guilt offering. Four of these five are animal sacrifices.

After being sold into slavery by his brothers, Joseph soon becomes “prime minister” of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh himself. The boy is handsome, smart and he always lands on his feet!

God then gives regulations concerning day-to-day life: What foods may be eaten; what clothing may be worn, and so on. God also institutes the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur. It is to be celebrated in perpetuity.