assorted sliced fruits

Isaiah 25:6–9, with Joel Kemp

The Mystery and the Grace of Hope

Lectionary Date: April 4, 2021 [Resurrection of the Lord, Year B]

What?! Preach the First Reading on Easter Sunday?! Stay with us here: you’ll find that this ancient prophetic word is incredibly relevant to our present moment and to the hopeful message of Easter. Our guest this week is Dr. Joel Kemp, Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible at Emory’s Candler School of Theology. Dr. Kemp is an expert in the latter prophets. But he also has an incredibly broad range of interests—in part because biblical scholarship is a third career for him. He worked as an attorney and a minister prior to his current work, and carries those interests into his scholarship. His latest book is just out: Ezekiel, Law, and Judahite Identity (Mohr Siebeck, 2020). It investigates how the book of Ezekiel uses legal elements to advocate for the reconfiguration of a Judahite identity under Neo-Babylonian dominance.

Exodus 20:1–17, with Carmen Joy Imes

Bearing God’s Name

Lectionary Date: March 7, 2021 [3rd Sunday in Lent, Year B]

The ten commandments are both very familiar and largely misunderstood in congregations. We hear from an expert on these issues, our guest this week, Dr. Carmen Joy Imes. Carmen is Associate Professor of Old Testament at Prairie College in Alberta, Canada. Her research has opened up the significance of the commandments for biblical scholars and “normal people” alike. All of you should immediately purchase her book, Bearing God’s Name: Why Sinai Still Matters. She has also authored Illustrated Exodus in Hebrew, which was edited by Tim in the GlossaHouse Illustrated Biblical Texts series. You can find Carmen at her blog, https://carmenjoyimes.blogspot.com/, and at her new YouTube vlog.