Posts by Julia Blum

My dear readers, we have just finished the book of Acts, and are about to start a new series. Before we do that however, I would like to do something else. As you know by now, from time to time I post a Torah Portion (Parashat Shavua) commentary here.  Parashat  Shavua ChuKkat is one of […]

Mission Not Accomplished Yet This is my last post on the book of Acts. When I started this series, almost a year ago, I wrote:  “For a very long time, I have wanted to go through the Book of Acts together with my readers. Too often, this particular book is perceived as a demarcation line, […]

My dear readers, we continue reading the book of Acts. We are now in chapter 23, again in Jerusalem, and therefore there are a lot of details in this chapter that require the knowledge of its Jewish background. Paul and Sanhedrin Chapter 23 opens with the convening of the Sanhedrin. Luke’s words “Paul, looking intently […]

The Third Meal and Paul’s Meeting at Troas My dear readers, together we continue to move through the book of Acts. Acts 20 describes a dramatic incident at Troas. As local believers gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, and Scripture tells us that he “prolonged his message until midnight”. This meeting […]

My dear readers, finally, we can go back to the series that was paused – to the comments on the book of Acts.  I would like to remind you why I have chosen this particular book to discuss. Even though the entire New Testament has largely been misread and misunderstood, the Book of Acts is […]

I would like to remind you, my dear readers, that we haven’t finished our discussion of Paul’s allegory from Galatians. First of all, let us read Paul’s text again: 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. 23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and […]

Last time, we realized that we had to change our perception of Paul’s text in Galatians from progressive and linear to three-dimensional and seeing volume. Once we see a hologram instead of a drawing—once we agree that both covenants have their place in God’s plan today, just as both sons have their place in Abraham’s […]

In order to read Paul’s allegory in the way it has been read for centuries by the Church, some beliefs had to be presupposed: First, Ishmael was just a byproduct on the way to Isaac, and only Isaac was essential in God’s plan; secondly, the Sinai Covenant (and Old Testament) was just a byproduct on […]

My dear readers, Passover is over, and I thought we would go back to our Acts series after the Festival. However, since Shavuot is coming in just a few weeks – and I can never miss this biblical Festival either – I decided that we would go back to Acts after Shavuot. Meanwhile, we will […]

Today is our Independence Day and it is my great joy and privilege to congratulate my readers on Israel’s 74th Birthday. Most of my readers, for years or even decades, have been faithfully interceding for the Land and the people – have been standing together with Israel and the God of Israel. Therefore, this is […]