Seems like it's already Christmas here. Well, not literally, but almost since today I received the newest issue of the Biblical Illustrator Plus CD-ROM. The cover of this issue features a Persian horse as a number of the articles are written to coincide with studies on Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.

Biblical Illustrator contains background supplemental articles for teachers to accompany a number of Lifeway curriculum series including Bible for Life, Explore the Bible, MasterWork, and the January Bible Study.

Here are the articles for the new issue (which I'm having to manually type because the contents PDF is password protected and I can't copy and paste the names of the articles, [grumble, grumble]):

"Confidence: A Word Study" by Michael Priest
"Roads and Travel in the First Century" by Robert J. Priest
"Salvation: A Word Study" by Mark Rathel
"'In the Beginning': A Comparison of Genesis 1 and John 1" by R. D. Fowler
"Curses and Blessings in the Old Testament" by Wayne VanHorn
"Ancient Altars" by George H. Shaddix
"Reaching the Heavens: A Study of Ancient Towers" by Stephen J. Andrews
"John, Follower of Jesus" by Timothy Trammell
"A Man Named Nicodemus" by Randall L. Adkisson
"Galilee in Jesus' Day" by Mark R. Dunn
"Beside the Sea of Galilee" by Bill Patterson
Book Review: John E. Curtis, Nigel Tallis, Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia
"The Persian Empire" by Kelvin Moore
"Zerubbabel's Temple" by Conn Davis
"Ezra: Scribe and Priest" by Robert C. Dunston
"The King's 'Cupbearer'" by Kevin Peacock
"The Jerusalem Gates" by Gary P. Arbino
"Postexilic Hebrew Worship Practices" by G. B. Howell, Jr.
"Susa: Esther's Capital City" by Terry W. Eddinger
"Xerxes: King of Persia" by Stephen R. Miller
"The Feast of Persia" by Dorman Laird

The CD-ROM edition of Biblical Illustrator also comes with more than 70 related articles from previous issues:

"Tyre and Sidon" by George L. Kelm
"Ancient Persia" by Wayne Jones
"The River that Leads to Ahava" by LeMoine DeVries
"From Cyrus II to Darius I" by Harry B. Hunt
"The Role of Queen Esther" by Janice Meier
"Andrew: Just Peter's Brother" by Steve Lemke
"John's Use of 'Witness'" by John Polhill
"Antichrist in John's Letters" by Charles A. Ray, Jr.
"The Purpose and Life Situation of John's Letters" by Timothy Trammell
"Gnosticism" by Cecil Ray Taylor
"Introducing 1 John" by C. Mack Roark
"My Little Children" by Bennie R. Crockett
"Nebuchadnezzar" by Vernon O. Elmore
"Propitiation: A Word Study" by Hal Lane
"Friendship in the Old Testament" by Raymond Lloyd
"Babylonian and Persian Kings" by Daniel Caldwell
"John's Use of Logos" by Darryl Wood
"The Significance of Curses and Blessings" by Pamela J. Scalise
"Grotto of the Annunciation" by W. Murray Severance
"Flesh and Spirit: Romans 7:14 - 8:17" by George R. Beasley-Murray
"Son of Man in John's Gospel" by Argile A. Smith, Jr.
"Introducing John's Gospel" by Leslie Thomas Strong
"Ancient Near Eastern Flood Stories" by Francis X. Kimmitt
"Flesh and Spirit in John's Gospel" by Larry McGraw
"David's Dynasty" (unnamed author)
"The First Evangel" by Wayne VanHorn
"Noah's Life and Times" by Scott Langston
"First-Century Games" by Gary M. Poulton
"Enoch: Example of Faith" by James E. Carter
"God's Revelation in the Sinaitic Covenant" by Jerry W. Lee
"The Elect Lady" by Douglas C. Weaver
"The Arabians" by M. Dean Register
"Languages of the Ancient Near East" by Waylon Bailey
"Ahasuerus: His Life and Times" by A. O. Collins
"Heroes Between the Testaments" by Elmer L. Gray
"Shushan" by W. Murray Severance
"'Aliens': A Study of Two Words" by James Wiles
"Peter's Use of the Old Testament" by C. Alan Woodward
"In God's Image" by Harold R. Mosely
"Destroyed Relationships" by Rick Davis
"David's Kingdom" by Kevin C. Peacock
"A Booth" by Alan Moseley
"Immanuel" by Bennie R. Crockett, Jr.
"Moses' Snake in the Desert" by Leon Hyatt, Jr.
"The Meaning of 'God's Spirit Moved'" by Billy K. Smith
"Feast of Booths" by Vernon Elmore
"First Century Mirrors" by Kendall H. Easley
"First Century Slavery" by A. O. Collins
"Love's Abiding Nature" by John Mason
"Paradise" by Charles Ray
"A Walk Around the Walls with Nehemiah" by George L. Kelm
"Ritual Baths of the First Century" by Norma S. Hedin
"Hosea: the Man and His Message" by Leon Hyatt
"Perils of the Return" by Philip J. Swanson
"Simeon and Jesus" by Todd D. Still
"The Scriptures in Jesus' Day" by Rodney Reeves
"Hate/Murder" by Don H. Stewart
"Cain in the New Testament" by Gregory T. Pouncey
"Sanctification" by David S. Dockery
"Joseph: Mary's Husband" by R. D. Fowler
"Jerusalem Before the Return" by Jerry Lee
"Zerubbabel's Temple" by Donald W. Garner
"Enemies of Rebuilding Jerusalem" by Jerry W. Lee
"Messianic Expectations" in Intertestamental Judaism" by Carolyn Ratcliffe
"The Jewish World When Jesus Was Born" by Jeff S. Anderson
"Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem's Walls" by Phillip J. Swanson
"Music in Celebration" by Becky Lombard
"The House of Herod" by D. Larry Gregg, Sr.
"The 'Word' in John's Gospel" by Sharon Gritz
"The Tower of Babel" by Phillip J. Swanson
"People Who Built the Temple" by Wayne VanHorn

The print edition of Biblical Illustrator is described on its website as "Well-researched articles related to LifeWay Sunday School lessons" with "[v]ivid portraits of Bible lands, people, and customs" plus "[m]aps, archaeological finds, and breathtaking color photos." The CD-ROM edition, Biblical Illustrator Plus "includes the current issue of Biblical Illustrator, quick access to over 200 pages of additional material, multiple articles for the current Sunday School lessons, and archived articles from previous issues of Biblical Illustrator."

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