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PODCAST

Modern Mind, Ancient Book

Roger Ferguson, Host and Biblical Scholar

Modern Mind, Ancient Book helps curious people understand Scripture in its ancient Jewish and historical world so they can know Jesus and walk His Way.Interesting ideas. Ancient stories. Better questions.Start with short discoveries. Explore real human questions through Scripture, covenant wisdom, and Jewish context. Study whole biblical books through careful, book-by-book teaching. Along the way, we distinguish what the text says from historical background, interpretation, and application.For

education courses

All Episodes

00:38:30

When the Land Mourns, Do Not Look Away | Joel 1

Modern Mind, Ancient Book ·

2026/10/05

What do we do when loss reaches everything—our work, our food, our worship, and even the land around us? Walk through Joel 1:1–20 and discover why faithful lament begins by seeing the damage honestly, remembering the Giver, gathering together, and crying out to the LORD.This opening study follows Joel's locust devastation through Israel's fields, offerings, communal grief, and prayer. We connect the passage with Israel's covenant story and follow Joel's later hope toward Jesus, while refusing to

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00:17:44

Deuteronomy Explained: Covenant, Remembrance, and...

Modern Mind, Ancient Book ·

2026/09/30

Deuteronomy is not merely a second law. It is Moses' covenant appeal to a new generation standing at the threshold of the promised land: remember what the LORD has done, love Him with the whole life, teach His words, practice justice, choose life, and enter faithfully.Roger Ferguson surveys the book's names, the restatement of covenant instruction, the Shema, the plains of Moab, Moses' final words, blessing and warning, covenant ratification, practical legal categories, and the way Deuteronomy

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00:37:39

The Jewish World Before Jesus

Modern Mind, Ancient Book ·

2026/09/25

Turn one page from Malachi to Matthew and the furniture seems to have moved.Rome rules. Herod is king. Pharisees and Sadducees debate. Synagogues gathercommunities. Greek names and language appear everywhere. Yet the covenant storyhas not gone silent.This episode walks through the Jewish world that took shape under Alexander andhis successors, the Maccabean crisis, the temple rededication remembered atHanukkah, the Hasmonean dynasty, Roman rule, and Herod. It then follows JewishScripture into Greek,

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00:09:20

The Fast Is Not the Point: Yom Kippur and Jesus —...

Modern Mind, Ancient Book ·

2026/09/20

The fast is not the point by itself. What does Scripture actually ask on Yom Kippur, and how did Jewish tradition give that humbling a communal form? Roger Ferguson opens Leviticus 16 and Leviticus 23:26–32, follows Isaiah 58 and Mishnah Yoma into truth and responsible repair, and then lets Hebrews 9–10 make its own priestly argument toward Jesus the Messiah. Along the way, he distinguishes Torah from later practice, protects health and wise boundaries, and offers a simple way to enter the Day of

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01:05:29

Before the Sun: Spirit, Speech, and Light | Genesis...

Modern Mind, Ancient Book ·

2026/09/19

What do the first five verses of Genesis say about God's Spirit, speech and light? Roger Ferguson and Yu Song begin reading the Torah together, comparing Jewish and Christian interpretations and following the language of creation into John 1.In Parashat, Yu joins Roger as a fellow learner, with room for questions and disagreement.Roger's connections involving early creator belief, Egypt, Moses and Jethro are interpretive opinions—not settled historical conclusions or views Yu must share. We present

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00:38:43

Babylon, Exile, Persia, and Return

Modern Mind, Ancient Book ·

2026/09/18

What happens to faith when Jerusalem falls, the temple burns, and God's peoplemust build their lives under another empire's sky?This episode follows Judah from Babylon's rise and Jerusalem's captures in 597and 586 BC through exile, Persia's conquest of Babylon, return, templerebuilding, and the later work of Ezra and Nehemiah. Biblical history appearsbeside the Babylonian Chronicle, Jehoiachin's ration records, Babylonian civicand religious culture, and the Cyrus Cylinder—with each source identified

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01:11:49

A Time for Everything—But Not Control | Ecclesiastes 3–5

Modern Mind, Ancient Book ·

2026/09/14

How do we live faithfully when we cannot control the season, guarantee theoutcome, stop injustice, secure another person's loyalty, or make wealthsatisfy the soul?Ecclesiastes chapters three through five begin with the famous poem about atime for every purpose under heaven. The Teacher then follows that poem intoGod's enduring work, human limitation, corrupt judgment, oppression,friendship, worship, vows, wealth, sleeplessness, and the gift of enjoying ourlot and labor.This study explains why the

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00:43:39

Two Kingdoms in the Shadow of Empires

Modern Mind, Ancient Book ·

2026/09/11

What does a nation do when the map is shrinking, tribute is rising, and theempire at the border says resistance is useless?This episode follows Israel and Judah from the division after Solomon throughthe fall of Samaria and Sennacherib's campaign in Judah. Kings, prophets,Assyrian inscriptions, tribute monuments, siege rhetoric, loyalty oaths, andthe books written within this collective historical world appear on onetimeline.Assyria tells us how empire wanted to be seen. Scripture tells us what

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00:18:39

Exodus Explained: Redemption, Covenant, and the...

Modern Mind, Ancient Book ·

2026/09/09

Exodus is the story of the Creator acting in history: He hears an oppressed people, remembers His covenant with Abraham, judges Egypt's false order, redeems Israel through Passover and the sea, and forms them at Sinai as a covenant people among whom He chooses to dwell. Roger Ferguson surveys the book from Moses' birth through the tabernacle, tracing redemption, covenant, vocation, holiness, and the divine name.This restored teaching preserves Roger's original human voice and conservative

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00:04:49

A Sound That Interrupts Us: Yom Teruah and Rosh Hashanah

Modern Mind, Ancient Book ·

2026/09/07

Send us Fan MailWhy does Scripture interrupt the seventh month with sound? Roger Ferguson opens Leviticus 23:23–25 and Numbers 29:1–6, distinguishes the Torah's trumpet day from later Rosh Hashanah traditions, and offers a simple way to stop, remember, make repair, and receive the day. Then he follows the New Testament's trumpet horizon toward gathering, resurrection hope, and Israel's Messiah—without turning Yom Teruah into a secret code or erasing Israel. Columbia-area listeners are invited to

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00:38:31

What Do We Gain From All Our Work? | Ecclesiastes 1–2

Modern Mind, Ancient Book ·

2026/09/07

Send us Fan MailWhat happens when wisdom, pleasure, success, possessions, and hard work arereal gifts—but still cannot make us permanent?In Ecclesiastes chapters one and two, the Teacher conducts a royal experiment.He tests knowledge, laughter, wine, houses, vineyards, gardens, wealth,reputation, achievement, and legacy. The experiment succeeds at acquisitionand fails at lasting gain. Then the book makes a surprising turn: food, drink,work, wisdom, knowledge, and joy may be received from the hand of

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70:37

What Is Torah? Meeting the Jewish Jesus | Parashat

Modern Mind, Ancient Book ·

2026/09/05

Send us Fan Mail What is Torah, and why does it matter if you want to understand Jesus? Roger Ferguson and guest Yu Song open Parashat, a continuing journey through the five books of Moses that reads Jesus inside Israel's Scriptures, covenant story, and first-century Jewish world. In this introduction, Roger and Yu explain what a parashah—a Torah portion—is, why the series will move from Genesis through Deuteronomy at its own careful pace, and how Jewish and rabbinic interpretations can illu...

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32:23

Tribes, Judges, and the Rise of Kings

Modern Mind, Ancient Book ·

2026/09/04

Send us Fan Mail What happens when a people remember the gift but forget the Giver? This episode enters Israel's world after Joshua: tribes, clans, households, elders, fields, sanctuaries, regional deliverers, neighboring gods, Philistine pressure, and the demand for a king. We follow the downward covenant movement of Judges, Ruth's costly loyalty, Samuel's warning about the king who takes, Saul's disobedience, and God's promise to build David a house. The road does not end with David. Matt...

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18:57

Genesis Explained: Creation, Covenant, and the Family...

Modern Mind, Ancient Book ·

2026/09/02

Send us Fan Mail Genesis Explained: Creation, Covenant, and the Family of Promise Genesis begins the covenant story of Scripture: the Creator orders the world, humanity receives image-bearing vocation, rebellion brings sin and death, the nations scatter, and God calls Abraham so blessing may reach the families of the earth. Roger Ferguson surveys that movement through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, ending with providence in Egypt and the promise of return. This restored teaching preserv...

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42:17

Love No Flood Can Drown | Song of Songs 7–8

Modern Mind, Ancient Book ·

2026/08/31

Send us Fan MailWhat makes love powerful without making it possessive?In the final session of our Song of Songs study, Roger follows the poem from embodied praise and a woman's countryside invitation to its climactic declaration: love is as strong as death, mighty waters cannot quench it, and no amount of wealth can buy it.We explore the seal over the heart and arm, the debated Hebrew behind “the fiercest blaze of all,” the final warning against forcing love before its proper time, the

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29:40

When God Confronts an Empire: Egypt, Exodus, and the...

Modern Mind, Ancient Book ·

2026/08/28

Send us Fan Mail Why does God bring His people out—and what happens when an empire acts as if it owns their bodies, children, and future? Enter the world of Egypt's Eighteenth Dynasty and follow one covenant movement: a cry rises, God remembers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Pharaoh's power is confronted, Israel passes through the sea, Torah is given, God's presence comes near, and the wilderness reveals the heart. Modern Mind, Ancient Book follows the responsible conservative high-date model a...

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20:02

Why Do the Righteous Suffer? | Survey of Job

Modern Mind, Ancient Book ·

2026/08/26

Send us Fan Mail Why Do the Righteous Suffer? | Survey of Job Why can a person who loves God still suffer—and what happens when friends turn that suffering into an accusation? In this restored Survey of Job, Roger Ferguson places Job within the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings; explores the ancient setting associated with Uz; compares Job with other ancient Near Eastern suffering texts; and follows the book's challenge to easy answers about guilt, righteousness, worship, and adversity. ...

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40:59

When Love Is Wounded | Song of Songs 5–6

Modern Mind, Ancient Book ·

2026/08/24

Send us Fan Mail What can faithful love do when the story includes absence and harm? This Bible study follows Song of Songs from chapter five, verse two, through chapter six, verse thirteen—from a knock in the night and an empty threshold to violence by city watchmen, remembered praise, companionship, renewed belonging, and a difficult final call to return. We name the watchmen's actions without graphic detail or blame toward the woman, preserve her voice, and refuse shallow promises that e...

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32:25

Abraham's World: The Road Out of Ur

Modern Mind, Ancient Book ·

2026/08/21

Send us Fan Mail ABRAHAM'S WORLD: THE ROAD OUT OF UR What kind of world did Abram leave—and why does the Bible remember his journey with language that later echoes in the Exodus? In Episode 2 of The Bible in Its World, Roger enters the cities, languages, religions, law texts, households, and political transitions surrounding Genesis 11–12. We follow MMAB's conservative identification of biblical Ur with southern Ur, briefly acknowledge the serious northern proposal, examine the rise and fal...

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22:10

True Food: Why Do We Have to Eat?

Modern Mind, Ancient Book ·

2026/08/18

Send us Fan Mail Why did God create human beings who must keep eating, drinking, breathing, and sleeping? The True Food series begins in Eden, where food is first received as a gift and dependence exists before anything goes wrong. Genesis gives us dust, breath, body, food, obedience, rebellion, death—and life. Humanity takes what God withheld, loses access to the tree of life, and discovers that bread can sustain mortal life without defeating death. This first teaching follows the biblical...

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