Field Notes are quick sketches from the Biblical world – the people, places, rulers, etc. that show up in Scripture and shape the story around them.
Sometimes that still means looking at the armor Paul describes in Ephesians. If that’s what you’re after, you can find each piece of the armor in the sidebar links at right.

  • Field Notes: Where Were You When I Laid the Foundation of the Earth?

    For most of the book of Job, Job wanted answers. He wanted to understand why everything he had built and loved had been taken from him, and he wanted God Himself to explain it.

    By the time God answered him, Job had lost his children, his wealth and his health. He had spent chapter after chapter arguing with his friends about why this had happened and wanting an opportunity to make his case before God.

    Then, in Job 38, God finally spoke. He didn’t begin by answering Job’s questions. He began asking His own. God spoke to Job from a whirlwind and asked, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?”

    Job obviously wasn’t there, and that was the point. God continued by asking Job about things that existed long before him and operated far beyond his control. “Have you ever in your life commanded the morning?” “Have you entered the springs of the sea?”

    Then the questions moved into the heavens. “Can you tie up the chains of the Pleiades?” “Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?”

    God asked about weather, stars, animals, birth, death, light, darkness, snow, hail, rain and lightning. The questions continue for four chapters. They weren’t really a test of how much Job knew. They repeatedly showed him how much he didn’t.

    Then God asked, “Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty?”

    Job finally answered. He said he was insignificant and had nothing to say. He put his hand over his mouth.

    God wasn’t finished. He spoke again from the whirlwind and continued questioning Job, this time challenging whether Job could exercise the justice and power that belong to God. Then came Behemoth and Leviathan, two creatures Job could neither control nor overpower.

    By the time God finished, He still had not given Job the explanation Job had spent so much of the book wanting. Instead, Job said something had changed in what he understood about God. He had spoken about things he didn’t understand, things too wonderful for him to know. He said, “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You.”

    God’s questions didn’t give Job the reason for everything that had happened to him. They changed Job’s understanding of how much he could possibly know from where he stood.

    Job wanted God to explain Himself.

    God showed Job just how much bigger the picture was than Job could see.

    Job 38–42

    God has more questions. See Let Me Ask You Something: When God Asks a Direct Question.

  • Field Notes: James, brother of Jesus

    James, the brother of Jesus, became one of the most important leaders of the early Christian church in Jerusalem. Although Jesus’ brothers did not initially believe in Him, James later became a prominent figure among the apostles and elders. He played a key role in the Jerusalem Council and is traditionally understood to be the…

  • Field Notes: James, son of Alphaeus

    James, the son of Alphaeus, was one of the Twelve apostles. This is not the same James who was the brother of John. Different James. Very little is recorded about him in Scripture compared with some of the other apostles. He is sometimes associated with “James the Less,” mentioned among the women at the crucifixion…

  • Field Notes: Transfiguration

    The Transfiguration is when Jesus’ appearance was temporarily changed to reveal His divine glory. On a mountain, Jesus’ face and clothing became radiant, and Moses and Elijah appeared with Him. Three disciples witnessed it: Peter, James, and John. A voice from Heaven said:“This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased’ listen to…

  • Field Notes: James, son of Zebedee, brother of John

    James, the son of Zebedee, was one of the Twelve apostles and the brother of John; together, Jesus nicknamed them the Sons of Thunder. Jesus called the two brothers while they were fishermen on the Sea of Galilee. James was part of Jesus’ inner circle along with Peter and John and was present at key…

  • Field Notes: Mary of Rome

    Mary of Rome is mentioned briefly by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans. Paul commends her for having “worked hard” for the believers, indicating she was an active and respected member of the early Christian community in Rome. Beyond this single short mention in Scripture, little else is known about her. Key…

  • Field Notes: Mary, mother of John Mark (yes, that Mark)

    This Mary was a member of the early Christian community in Jerusalem and the mother of John Mark (widely believed to be Mark, the author of the Gospel of Mark), who later traveled with Paul and Barnabas. Her home served as a gathering place for believers, and it was there that many Christians were praying…