Walter C. Kaiser Jr. (born April 11, 1933) is an American Evangelical Old Testament scholar, writer, public speaker, and educator. Kaiser is the Colman M. Mockler distinguished Professor of Old Testament and former President of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts, retired June 30, 2006. He was succeeded by James Emery White. For many years he served as professor of Old Testament and as dean and vice president for education at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Deerfield, Illinois). A frequent speaker at churches, camps, and conferences, he has written numerous books, including Toward an Exegetical Theology, Toward an Old Testament Theology, Toward Old Testament Ethics, and The Messiah in the Old Testament.
Commentary: Was God’s punishment of Aaron and Moses unjust?
Was Aaron under-punished for fashioning the golden calf, while Moses was over-punished for striking the rock?
Let’s begin answering this two-fold question posed to me by examining Exodus 32, where in response to Moses’ almost six-week absence the impatient Israelites prevailed upon a surprisingly weak Aaron to fashion a golden calf out of their gold rings (such an idol was quite familiar in Egypt where bulls were sacred). The result was a graven image which Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. in his commentary on Exodus reminds us was “a direct violation of the second commandment … so recently given to (the Israelites, p. 478).”
(The Christian Index 3/20/24) READ MORE>>>>>
Was Aaron under-punished for fashioning the golden calf, while Moses was over-punished for striking the rock?
Let’s begin answering this two-fold question posed to me by examining Exodus 32, where in response to Moses’ almost six-week absence the impatient Israelites prevailed upon a surprisingly weak Aaron to fashion a golden calf out of their gold rings (such an idol was quite familiar in Egypt where bulls were sacred). The result was a graven image which Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. in his commentary on Exodus reminds us was “a direct violation of the second commandment … so recently given to (the Israelites, p. 478).”
(The Christian Index 3/20/24) READ MORE>>>>>
'We rejoice!': Gordon Conwell President Emeritus Walter Kaiser is alive, seminary confirms
Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary President Emeritus Walter Kaiser is alive, despite a now retracted claim from the Christian school that he had died at age 90. After initially announcing online that Kaiser had passed away, Gordon Conwell took down their tribute page for the campus leader and then posted a correction notice on Tuesday. “The information we received regarding the passing of our beloved president emeritus has proven, joyfully, to have been false. Dr. Walt Kaiser is alive and well, for which we rejoice,” stated the seminary.
(Michael Groboski/Christian Post 11/22/23)
READ MORE>>>>>
Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary President Emeritus Walter Kaiser is alive, despite a now retracted claim from the Christian school that he had died at age 90. After initially announcing online that Kaiser had passed away, Gordon Conwell took down their tribute page for the campus leader and then posted a correction notice on Tuesday. “The information we received regarding the passing of our beloved president emeritus has proven, joyfully, to have been false. Dr. Walt Kaiser is alive and well, for which we rejoice,” stated the seminary.
(Michael Groboski/Christian Post 11/22/23)
READ MORE>>>>>
Walter c Kaiser Files
“Torah is not merely a collection of prohibitions, rigid strictures and boring observances. Rather, it is a narrative of the blessings and promises of God initially offered to one person and family, but through which the whole world will ultimately be blessed.”
― Walter C. Kaiser Jr.
Walter c Kaiser Files
"Oftentimes the believer has not been aided or prepared by solid exposition of Scripture or a theology of suffering to cope with the suffering as it comes in national disaster, death, depression, separation, rejection, or the like. Too frequently the only place many turn in such circumstances is to medically trained clinicians. This is not to say that a referral to the medical profession is not altogether appropriate at times; but we do maintain that 'grief management,' as the phrase goes these days, is the business of the gospel as well."
― Walter C. Kaiser Jr., A Biblical Approach to Personal Suffering
― Walter C. Kaiser Jr., A Biblical Approach to Personal Suffering
Walter c Kaiser Files
"No book of the Bible is more of an orphan book than Lamentations; rarely, if ever, have interpreters chosen to use this book for a Bible study, an expository series of messages, or as a Bible conference textual exposition. Our generation's neglect of this volume has meant that our pastoral work, our caring ministry for believers, and our own ability to find direction in the midst of calamity, pain, and suffering have been seriously truncated and rendered partially or totally ineffective."
― Walter C. Kaiser Jr., A Biblical Approach to Personal Suffering
― Walter C. Kaiser Jr., A Biblical Approach to Personal Suffering
Walter c Kaiser
It is no secret that Christ’s Church is not in good health in many places of the world. She has been languishing because she has been fed, as the current line has it, “junk food;” all kinds of artificial preservatives and all sorts of unnatural substitutes have been served up to her. As a result, theological and biblical malnutrition has afflicted the very generation that has taken such giant steps to make sure its physical health is not damaged by using foods or products that are harmful to their bodies. Simultaneously a worldwide spiritual famine resulting from the absence of any genuine publication of the Word of God (Amos 8:11) continues to run wild and almost unabated in most quarters of the Church.
--Walter C Kaiser; Toward an Exegetical Theology
--Walter C Kaiser; Toward an Exegetical Theology
Walter C Kaiser
“The cure for many of the ills afflicting the church and the seminaries of the day is to be found in the faithful exposition of the Word of God. Faithfulness in this area is the primary prerequisite for alleviating the deepest concerns currently held by the church and society.”
― Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Preaching and Teaching from the Old Testament: A Guide for the Church
― Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Preaching and Teaching from the Old Testament: A Guide for the Church
Walter c Kaiser
The Church and the Scripture stand or fall together. Either the Church will be nourished and strengthened by the bold proclamation of her Biblical texts or her health will be severely impaired. ― Walter C. Kaiser Jr.
Feb 4, 2022: The Christian Index: Why would God send a bear to maul children?
II Kings 2: 23-24: “From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking up the path, some small boys came out of the city and harassed him, chanting, ‘Go up, baldy! Go up, baldy!’ He turned around, looked at them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two female bears came out of the woods and mauled 42 of the children.”
Gleason Archer puts everything in perspective when he describes this large roving band of teenagers as “a serious public danger, quite as grave as the large youth gangs that roam the ghetto sections of our modern American cities.” The Apologetics Study Bible explains: “The Hebrew phrase for ‘small boys’ refers to adolescents from 12 to 30 years old (see I Samuel 20:35; I Kings 3:7; 11:17). It is unlikely that these youths were younger than 12 years old.” Contrary to the caricature, Elisha was a young man, probably in his mid twenties, though obviously bald.
We are also reminded that the real issue was not how this gang showed contempt and “disrespect for God’s prophet,” but revealed utter “disrespect for the Lord.” Therefore, “a strong message was sent to the city and parents” reminiscent of Leviticus 26:21-22. This Scripture tells how hostility toward God and an unwillingness to obey Him can result in being besieged by plagues and wild animals.
The message was a corrective message to address current attitudes and behavior that if heeded would ward off worse sins and greater judgment. The gang was shocked and silenced when mauled (not necessarily killed) by the bears, and their parents and community were warned to repent of their sins (reflected in their children) and obey God before worse judgments befell them!
Walter C. Kaiser writes how the eventual fall of Israel “would have been avoided had the people repented after the bear attack.” They did not.
According to II Chronicles 36:16 we read how “they kept ridiculing God’s messengers, despising His words, and scoffing at His prophets … As Kaiser wisely states: The “bear attack shows God trying repeatedly to bring his people back to himself through smaller judgments” so that they could avoid a worse “full force” judgment.
II Kings 2: 23-24: “From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking up the path, some small boys came out of the city and harassed him, chanting, ‘Go up, baldy! Go up, baldy!’ He turned around, looked at them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two female bears came out of the woods and mauled 42 of the children.”
Gleason Archer puts everything in perspective when he describes this large roving band of teenagers as “a serious public danger, quite as grave as the large youth gangs that roam the ghetto sections of our modern American cities.” The Apologetics Study Bible explains: “The Hebrew phrase for ‘small boys’ refers to adolescents from 12 to 30 years old (see I Samuel 20:35; I Kings 3:7; 11:17). It is unlikely that these youths were younger than 12 years old.” Contrary to the caricature, Elisha was a young man, probably in his mid twenties, though obviously bald.
We are also reminded that the real issue was not how this gang showed contempt and “disrespect for God’s prophet,” but revealed utter “disrespect for the Lord.” Therefore, “a strong message was sent to the city and parents” reminiscent of Leviticus 26:21-22. This Scripture tells how hostility toward God and an unwillingness to obey Him can result in being besieged by plagues and wild animals.
The message was a corrective message to address current attitudes and behavior that if heeded would ward off worse sins and greater judgment. The gang was shocked and silenced when mauled (not necessarily killed) by the bears, and their parents and community were warned to repent of their sins (reflected in their children) and obey God before worse judgments befell them!
Walter C. Kaiser writes how the eventual fall of Israel “would have been avoided had the people repented after the bear attack.” They did not.
According to II Chronicles 36:16 we read how “they kept ridiculing God’s messengers, despising His words, and scoffing at His prophets … As Kaiser wisely states: The “bear attack shows God trying repeatedly to bring his people back to himself through smaller judgments” so that they could avoid a worse “full force” judgment.