As a matter of fact, there are over 63,000 cross-references in the Bible.
Daniel quoted Jeremiah.
David quoted Moses.
Jesus quoted David.
Peter referenced Enoch.
James referenced Abraham.
Peter referenced Paul.
And so on.
One of the greatest miracles of Scripture is its interconnectedness. Someone created a chart of this connectedness (attached).
Somebody will tweet something false and stupid like this and get 5k likes. It is what well.
The word "Bible" simply means "books."
The word "Scripture" means "writings."
In Christianity, the Bible/Scripture is a collection of sacred writings spanning several thousand years that point to Christ.
From the time of Moses, these writings were considered sacred and read by God's people.
So yes, no one in the Bible had the complete Bible, for obvious reasons.
But everyone from Moses onward had the scriptures available up to their point in history: the Torah, the Prophets, the Psalms, and eventually the epistles and gospels.
I recently got admitted to an MBA program in the UK with funding, but I was initially asked to submit an English test because I am Nigerian. Given my PhD and my position as a faculty member at a top institution in North America, I questioned this requirement.
Initially, they declined my request for a waiver. But after a bit more back-and-forth, they reconsidered and granted a waiver, recognizing my Canadian status.
I became Canadian less than 2 years ago, so how do you justify waiving the test based on my Canadian status, when my whole life (27 years) was spent in Nigeria, an English-speaking country?
After a certain age, your parents slowly become your children.
They ask simple questions, repeat stories, and depend on your patience the way you once depended on theirs. Very few understand this role reversal. What looks like innocence or inconvenience is really time coming full circle. Don’t correct them harshly. Don’t rush them. Care for them the way they once protected you. This is not a burden. It is repayment, quietly wrapped as love.
My roommate and lifting partner in college was an ardent atheist.
I've been a devout Christian my entire life.
We spent every waking moment together, from the dorm room to the gym. I truly loved him like a brother.
After school ended, we went our separate ways and talked, at most, once a year.
He called me the other day to let me know he was having twins. This was literally one year after my Wife and I had ours.
In addition to the news of the babies, he let me know that he had dedicated his life to the Lord Jesus Christ.
I wept.
We debated theology constantly in school.
He would go with me to church every once in a while because he said he liked the "hot girls." I didn't care, I just wanted him to sit under hot Gospel preaching.
I felt like I failed him in a lot of ways. My answers weren't always the most buttoned up, and although I was living for the Lord, he still saw my sin daily.
Hearing his testimony, I was reminded that I have no power to save. It is the Lord's and His alone.
Let me encourage you to not grow weary in doing good.
You may not see the fruit of your efforts for years, or ever at all. But, seeing the fruit is not your duty. Planting and watering it is.
Title: Esau I Hated, Jacob I Loved: What God Truly Meant
This statements in Scripture have caused as much confusion and debate, Romans 9:13, where Paul quotes God saying, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” Read without context, these words can sound harsh and even contradictory to the character of a loving and just God. How can the same God who commands love speak of hatred? To understand this statement correctly, we must go deeper than the surface reading and allow Scripture to interpret Scripture.
Jacob and Esau were twin brothers born to Isaac and Rebekah, from the beginning their paths were different. Esau, the firstborn, was a skilled hunter, a man of the field, driven by appetite and impulse. Jacob, the younger, was more inward, contemplative, and drawn toward spiritual inheritance. These differences were not merely personality traits; they reflected two different value systems. Esau valued the immediate and tangible, while Jacob desired the covenant and the promise, even though he often pursued it in flawed ways.
The defining moment in Esau’s story comes when he sells his birthright for a single meal. Scripture tells us plainly that “Esau despised his birthright.” This was not just a bad decision made out of hunger, it revealed a heart that did not place value on God’s covenant. The birthright represented spiritual authority, covenantal blessing, and alignment with God’s redemptive plan. Esau willingly exchanged that for temporary satisfaction, showing where his priorities truly lay.
When God later says, “Esau I hated,” He is not expressing emotional hatred as humans understand it. In the biblical world, especially in Hebrew thought, the word translated as “hate” often means to reject in terms of role, priority, or covenantal purpose. It is a comparative term, not an emotional one. To “love” one and “hate” another is to choose one for a specific purpose over the other. Jesus Himself uses this kind of language when He says that anyone who does not “hate” father and mother cannot be His disciple, clearly meaning priority rather than literal hatred.
God loved Jacob in the sense that He chose Jacob’s lineage to carry the covenant promise that would eventually lead to the Messiah. God “hated” Esau in the sense that Esau’s lineage was not chosen for that covenantal role. This choice was not based on moral superiority, because Jacob was deeply flawed, deceptive, and often fearful. Rather, it was based on God’s sovereign purpose in salvation history.
Importantly, God’s rejection of Esau for the covenant line did not mean abandonment, neglect, or lack of care. Scripture makes it very clear that God also came through for Esau and his descendants. In Genesis, God blesses Esau with prosperity, land, and a powerful lineage. Esau becomes the father of the Edomites, a nation that grows strong and established. Esau himself acknowledges that he has “enough,” showing that he was not left destitute or cursed.
Later in Israel’s history, God explicitly commands the Israelites not to despise or attack the Edomites, calling them brothers because they came from Esau. God instructs Israel not to take Edomite land, declaring that He had given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. This shows unmistakably that God remained concerned with Esau’s lineage, honoring His promises and protecting what He had allotted to them. A God who truly hated Esau in the human sense would not defend his descendants or establish them securely in their own land.
Even when Edom later falls into judgment, that judgment is based on their actions, pride, and violence, not on some ancient divine grudge. Just as Israel faced judgment when they rebelled, Edom too was held accountable for their choices. God’s justice is consistent and impartial. His dealings with nations are always tied to righteousness, not favoritism rooted in emotion.
Paul’s use of this phrase in Romans 9 is not meant to portray God as cruel or arbitrary. Paul is addressing the question of why the Messiah came through Israel and not through other nations. His point is that God’s covenant promises have always operated according to divine purpose, not human expectation or natural birth order. God’s choice of Jacob over Esau demonstrates that salvation history unfolds by God’s will, not by human entitlement.
When understood this way, “Jacob I loved, Esau I hated” is not a statement about worth, salvation, or God’s emotional disposition toward individuals. It is a declaration about purpose, calling, and covenant. God did not love Jacob because Jacob was better, nor did He reject Esau because Esau was irredeemable. God assigned different roles, and both men lived out the consequences of their choices within those roles.
This truth carries a powerful lesson for believers today. God’s love does not mean everyone receives the same assignment, but it does mean everyone remains under His care. Some are chosen for specific purposes, while others are blessed in different ways. Being “chosen” does not mean being more loved, and being “unchosen” for a particular role does not mean being hated or forgotten.
Ultimately, God’s dealings with Jacob and Esau reveal a God who is sovereign, just, and faithful. He fulfills His redemptive plan through chosen vessels, yet He remains attentive to all people. His words, when read carefully and humbly, do not reveal cruelty but wisdom. They call us to look beyond human emotion and understand divine purpose.
Mel Gibson Spent 7 years writting the sequel to the Passion of the Christ with help from theologians & historians to ensure biblical accuracy.
Filming began August 2025 in Italy. The first part will premiere on Good Friday, March 26 2027, and the second will be released 40 days later, on Ascension Day, May 6.
This could be one of the most ambitious Christian films ever made.
Do people who have extramarital affairs not read Anna Karenina, Madame Bovary, The Awakening, or even watch Fatal Attraction? Or read about King David? It never, never ends well. Are affairs the sins of a literacy problem, a pride one, or a problem of an impoverished imagination?
Psalm 119:105 and John 15:5 paired together unlocked something I’d been missing my entire life.
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
Most people quote this verse and move on, but there is a depth here that changes everything once you see it. Notice it doesn’t say that God will give you a blueprint, a roadmap, or a ten-year plan with every detail mapped out. It says God’s word is a lamp.
In ancient times, a small oil lamp lit maybe three or four feet in front of you. You couldn’t see the destination, you couldn’t see around the corner, you had just enough light for the next step.
This is how God operates. Not with floodlights. Not with spotlights. Just enough for each step, forcing you to depend on Him every moment. You can’t run ahead. You can’t figure it all out on your own. You have to stay close to the light source.
Then Jesus comes along in John 15:5 and makes one of the boldest claims in all of Scripture. “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him bears much fruit. Apart from me you can do NOTHING.”
When I first read this, it shocked me. Nothing??? I looked around and saw people clearly doing things without Him. That’s when it clicked, He doesn’t mean nothing in the strict sense. You can build businesses, write books, gain influence, accomplish things. What He means is that real, lasting fruit, the kind that actually matters for eternity comes only when you abide in Him. You can spend your whole life doing things that feed your ego but starve your soul, or you can stay connected to the source of life and bear fruit that truly matters.
The lamp doesn’t just show you where to go. It forces you to stay close to who is guiding you. No lamp and you stumble in darkness. No vine and you wither and die. Both images shout the same truth: abide, depend, stay connected.
We live in a culture obsessed with independence, self-sufficiency, and figuring it all out on our own. God designed us for the opposite. He gives you just enough light for today because He wants you coming back tomorrow. The lamp to your feet isn’t a limitation, it’s an invitation to intimacy, a daily reminder that you don’t walk alone.
It just hit me afresh that I’m going into 2026 without new sermons and studies from these two faithful shepherds. And while I absolutely trust God’s timing, I can’t help but feel that loss. So many have been willing to sell out their ministries to gain prestige, or access to some sphere or financial benefit or just to keep up with the trends.
And I think of these two men, who were impervious to trends and to worldly psychological manipulation and I miss them so much.
Still enormous back catalogs to work through, of course, and I know that I will continue to learn from both. But sometimes, when you have a hard day, it just hits you that two giants, whose teaching you have always relied on, will no longer be producing new work.
It’s tough.
Sometimes I get hooked and will follow some obscure twitter argument between two random guys down into the weeds, especially if one of them is insane and the other guy just keeps reiterating basic facts. I’ll give a heart near the end so the sane guy knows he’s not alone.
There is an actual book by a white guy who was cruising around the continent in his small boat, when he got to Mombasa and was told by a drinking buddy about a job requiring people with boat operation knowledge. He applied. It was a UN agency job. Got called for an interview..🧵