James Austin

To further understand the birth of the early Church, it is necessary to recognize what occurred at Antioch in ancient Syria. After Stephen’s life was taken by people hostile to his testimony and faith in …

The temple was a cultural and religious gathering location of people throughout Israel. Either daily or on occasion, in observance of festivals, people of Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond would gather at the temple to fellowship, …

Introduction Both the Old and New Testaments were compiled over a period of about 1,500 years. From about 1400 B.C. to 90 A.D., God used over forty different writers to author the Scriptures under the …

This is an academic textbook about major and minor prophets authored throughout written Scripture. It is a comprehensive survey of each prophet in the Old Testament that provides a topical view from both pre-exilic and …

From a cursory understanding of Middle-Eastern history, it is apparent that the empires that formed were superseded to bring about the arrival of Christ on Earth. Conditions were sovereignly orchestrated as each empire rose to …

This post is about the prophecy of Isaiah concerning the Servant of Yahweh, as described in his first Servant Song (Is 42:1-7). Through the course of history, we come to recognize the characteristics of this …

The final admonition given to the post-exilic people of Israel included instructions concerning obedience of the Torah (the Mosaic Law) and to watch for the arrival of the Messiah. While the people of Israel returned …

To assure the construction and completion of the second temple after Israel’s Babylonian exile, Zerubbabel was commissioned to undertake the project with supernatural help. As we read in Zechariah 4:6, Zerubbabel as governor of Judah …

A recurring emphasis throughout this textbook concerns YHWH’s judgments upon Israel, Judah, and the surrounding nations. The stated causes of these judgments are identified as idolatry, “social injustice,” and empty ritualism, based on the authors’ …

It was YHWH Himself who said, “the righteous shall live by faith (Hab 2:4). While speaking to the prophet Habakkuk, the context of this piercing message was about Judah’s injustices and how God appointed the …

2020 Update: This is an edit to an earlier post. It has been a few years since I began to give these booklets out to people. Looking back, I suppose they have made a difference …

“With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands …

As Jonah was an obstinate and disobedient prophet of YHWH, he refused the LORD’s instructions to travel to the city of Nineveh in Assyria and warn them of destruction. Due to the great evil in …

This post is in the context of my Psalm 82 worldview. I follow and accept the first-century perspective of the Apostle’s view of Scripture. So that may provide some sense of premise I have as …

When a person walks by the Spirit as written about in Paul’s letter to the Galatians (Gal 5:1-26), we are guided in Christlike behavior that honors God’s instructions to love one another. As Christ’s life …

The unfaithful spouse imagery in Hosea’s book is common to the same type of betrayal that we read about among the major prophets (Jeremiah 3:1, Ezekiel 16:32). The prophets describe how the rejection of a …

The promise of the Spirit of Yahweh poured out upon His people includes individuals written about in the context of Joel 2:28-29. Specifically, Israel’s people identified as sons, daughters, men, both young and old, and …

As Yahweh made clear to the prophet Jeremiah concerning Israel, “they will be My people and I will be their God,” it was obvious that He kept faithful to the covenant agreed upon at Mt …