Is the Church a City?

Episode Chapters

1. Intro
   0:00 - 2:27
2. Was Cain's City Originally a Good Thing?
   2:28 - 2:38
3. "Mike from the United Kingdom Could Cain’s city actually be seen in a positive light? Could it be the fulfillment of what God wanted when he put the mark of protection on Cain––as if it was the first city of refuge, a city where murderers could run for justice? It seems that only in subsequent generations that that good intent was distorted into something ugly."
   2:39 - 3:02
4. "Princy from France I noticed there is a link between God’s protection over Cain and the cities of refuge in Numbers 35. Is this an instance of God redeeming the “city” from being bad to actually serve its initial purpose?"
   3:03 - 13:05
5. Why Didn’t Israel Face the Same Judgment as Sodom?
   13:06 - 13:23
6. "Alexa from Washington When you were talking about Sodom and Gomorrah, it made me think of the appendix of Judges and how similar those two stories are. So much of the language is exactly the same in those two passages. So my question is, what is the significance of their similarities, as well as their differences? Both accounts feature the assault and murder of women, but Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed, while Israel is not. Are the biblical authors suggesting that Israel is worse than Sodom? If so, why doesn’t it warrant the same level of destruction as Sodom?"
   13:24 - 23:24
7. Why Is Babylon Depicted So Negatively in the Bible?
   23:25 - 23:30
8. "Alex from Maryland You've pointed out that the concept of the city is generally negative throughout the biblical narrative, but ends on a positive note. I've also noticed that Ezekiel speaks of Sodom being restored, and Jonah speaks of God desiring to save Nineveh. Keeping God’s redemption and mercy for these two cities in mind, the consistently negative portrayal of Babylon from start to end sticks out. In a way, it reminds me of Abraham cutting short negotiations with God over Sodom. What's going on here?"
   23:31 - 31:44
9. How Will God Redeem the City?
   31:45 - 31:47
10. "Berto from Indonesia Tim, you give us a little spoiler about how Jerusalem, David, and the dedication of the Tabernacle is a pivot point connected to how Seth's descendants began to call upon the name of Yahweh. Could this mean that the depiction of the ideal city is worship at scale instead of violence at scale? When Israel first asked for a king, they just wanted to be like other nations, with power and security on their own terms. It feels that God redeemed the city and incorporated it into the ideal imagery here in this story."
    31:48 - 38:11
11. Is the Church a City?
    38:12 - 38:17
12. "Hamish from Australia It's Pentecost Sunday right now as I ask this, and I'm pondering the theme of the city in light of Luke's account of the events at Pentecost in Acts 2. I've read a lot of commentaries that describe Luke's account here as the reversal of the events of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11, and I find that to be a compelling way of understanding Luke's literary intent. How should we understand the role of the Church (which was birthed at Pentecost) as the New Testament's response to all of the ideas raised by the biblical theme of the city?"
    38:18 - 51:14
13. Show Credits
    51:15 - 54:06