Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 226 to 250 of 3099 results

Philippians 1:12-30

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

... from Job 13:16 is exact: touto moi apobēsetai eis sōtērian. The help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ is, lit., “the … supply (Gk. epichorēgia) of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” NIV takes “of the Spirit” (pneumatos) to be subjective genitive, “that which the Spirit of Jesus Christ supplies.” It might, however, be objective genitive, the Spirit being that which is supplied, as in Gal. 3:5, “Does God give [epichorēgōn] you the Spirit …?” Cf. NEB: “the Spirit of Jesus Christ is ...

227. No Confidence in the Flesh

Philippians 3:1-11

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

... :10),” CBQ 22 (1960), pp. 1–32; also H. Seesemann, Der Begriff KOINŌNIA im Neuen Testament. 3:11 And so, somehow: Gk. ei pōs, “if perhaps,” “if by any means,” introducing a clause of purpose where the attainment of the purpose is not altogether within the subject’s power; cf. Acts 27:12, of the sailors’ hope of making Phoenix and spending the winter there; Rom. 1:10, of Paul’s prayer that it may be possible for him at last to visit Rome; 11:14, of his hope to promote the salvation of his ...

228. Children of God

1 John 2:28--3:10

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

... more accurately, in the light of the Christology of the Johannine writings, the model is God as revealed in the person, teaching, and life of Christ, God’s Son. 3:4 After a three-verse celebration of being God’s children (3:1–3), the writer returns to the subject begun in 2:29. The first half of v. 4 contrasts the idea stated in 2:29b: 2:29b: everyone who does what is right 3:4a: everyone who sins. Throughout this section (vv. 4–10) the Elder wants to show his readers how different are the lives of ...

229. Test the Spirits

1 John 4:1-6

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

... s) in similar language: you have heard that the antichrist is coming (2:18b) which you have heard is coming (4:3b) even now many antichrists have come (2:18c) even now is already in the world (4:3c) Both passages remind the readers that the subject of “antichrist” is not new; they had heard about it previously in early Christian teaching about the age to come. (See the discussion on “antichrist” at 2:18.) What is new is that this “antichrist,” or the spirit of the antichrist, has now appeared in ...

230. Joy at Believers’ Walking in the Truth

3 John 1:1-14

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

... 8, 12). Many of these references, especially in 1 John, are to what the community has experienced or to what it knows (1 John 1:1–3, 5; 2:3–4, 18; 3:2, 14, 16, 19–21, 24; 4:6, 13–14, 16; 5:2, 15, 18–20). The subject of witness or testimony in the Gospel and letters of John was studied by Boice, Witness and Revelation, and by Brown, Gospel, I–XII, pp. 227–28. Closing Words and Greetings In these final verses of 3 John, the Elder expresses his desire to communicate with his readers in person ...

231. Miscellaneous Laws

Deut 23:15–25:19

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... as the millstones are essential for daily bread, so the cloak (a garment by day and a blanket by night) is essential for nightly sleep. If it is taken as security for a loan, it is to be returned before nightfall, thus again preventing the poor from being subjected to intolerable pressures (cf. Amos 2:8a). If the pledge was to be returned so quickly, was there any point in taking it at all? Possibly not, from the lender’s point of view. But it has been suggested that the very basic and physical nature of ...

232. A Wise Ruling

1 Kings 3:16-28

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... , then there is no hope for the apple (cf. Prov. 28:15–16; 29:2). Yet the picture that we have of Solomon in 1 Kings 1–2 has indeed raised the question of whether he has not hitherto “betrayed” justice in his dealings with certain of his subjects, and our reading of 3:1–15 has also suggested it. First Kings 3:16–28 now wishes us to see how the new wisdom he has just received from God makes all the difference in his ability to “distinguish between right and wrong” (3:9) and to administer ...

233. Solomon's Daily Provisions

1 Kings 4:20-28

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... promise picked up in reference to Solomon) and overlapping quite a bit with the area of David’s dominion as deduced from texts such as 2 Samuel 8:1–14 and 2 Samuel 10. The countries in this region, we are told, brought tribute and were Solomon’s subjects all his life. So it is that an enormous quantity of food flows into the kingdom from outside, with the result that all Israel, from very north to very south (Dan to Beersheba) lived each man under his own vine and fig tree. That is to say, they ...

234. Solomon's Other Activities

1 Kings 9:10-28

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... to attract our unqualified approval. What is particularly striking about 1 Kings 9:10–10:29 when compared with 1 Kings 4–5 is the manner in which the authors go out of their way in 4–5 to emphasize that the prosperity of the king was shared with his subjects (cf. 4:20, 25). This is a theme that is notable for its absence in 9:10–10:29, where all the emphasis lies upon the luxury of the royal court (cf. the commentary on 10:14–29 in particular). God may well have given Solomon riches, but has he ...

235. A Prophecy Against Babylon

Isaiah 13:1--14:23

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... as a whole, over at least two centuries. The prophecies enable us to understand Yahweh’s way of working in Israel’s world over a long period, and thus in ours. 13:1 Babylon here appears in Isaiah for the first time; it is the subject through 14:23. Its prominence in chapters 13–23 may reflect two facts. In Isaiah’s day, Babylon was significant as a powerful city that was inclined to rebel against Assyria, like other powers nearer Judah such as Philistia and Egypt, and in collaboration with them ...

236. Riddles and Metaphors

Ezekiel 15:1-8, Ezekiel 16:1-63, Ezekiel 17:1-24

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... ancient enemies surrounding Judah: Aram to the north, Philistia to the south. Either way, the point is the same: Jerusalem has taken the place of Sodom as an illustration of the fate wicked cities deserve. 16:63 When I make atonement for you. God is the subject of the verb kipper (“make atonement, purge”) only seven times in the HB, including here. The oldest text is Deut. 32:43, where the land, not the people, is the object of the verb. Jeremiah 18:23 negates the term: “do not purge” (NIV has “Do ...

237. Two Testing Questions

Luke 20:27-40, Luke 20:20-26

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... of levirate marriage (Deut. 25:5–6). There are only two examples of this law being applied in the Old Testament (Gen. 38:6–11; Ruth 4:5–10), in both of which the surviving relative proves reluctant. But a large body of rabbinic legislation on the subject shows that the law remained in force, at least in theory. The imaginary story of a woman’s seven marriages may be loosely based on a story from the apocryphal book of Tobit, where a woman, Sarah, marries seven husbands in turn but each is killed by ...

238. Aaron Begins His Duties

Leviticus 9:1-24

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... people, he first must offer atoning sacrifice for himself: “Moses said to Aaron, ‘Come to the altar and sacrifice your sin offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself’” (Lev. 9:7a). The reason for this is obvious: Even Aaron as high priest is subject to sin and defilement. To serve in God’s holy presence in the tent of meeting requires a purging of Aaron’s impurities, or else God’s holy wrath might break out against him and/or the people. There is an irony here in that the ...

239. “Oh, What a Tangled Web We Weave”: Power Poisons the Conscience

2 Samuel 11:1-27

Teach the Text

Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

... 2 Samuel 11 records how David, the new Joshua/Caleb who fearlessly defeated a giant in the name of the Lord, is transformed into a new Samson, whose lust emasculates his military strength. The woman was very beautiful. The structure of the Hebrew clause (subject first) draws attention to this observation. The description of Bathsheba’s physical beauty echoes the description of David when he first appeared in the story (cf. 1 Sam. 16:12). David’s gaze falls on one who is every bit his physical equal; he ...

240. Saul’s Finest Hour

1 Sam 11:1-15

Teach the Text

Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

... other instances in the Bible of mutilating (Judg. 1:6) or blinding a defeated enemy (Judg. 16:21; 2 Kings 25:7), but in the latter case both of the victim’s eyes are blinded. Nahash wants to humiliate Israel yet at the same time leave his subjects capable of producing tribute for him.4 11:3 Give us seven days. It may seem peculiar that Nahash agrees to let the men of Jabesh Gilead send for help. However, his decision to do so is probably practical. Rather than conducting a time-consuming siege against ...

241. Job Considers a Legal Dispute with God

Job 9:1–10:22

Teach the Text

Daniel J. Estes

... descriptive praise (e.g., Ps. 145), and in particular the nature psalms (e.g., Ps. 104). Throughout the Bible, God is presented as both the creator of and the sovereign over the world of nature. Nature, then, does not function independently of God but is subject to his control. God both made the world and rules over it. Teaching the Text In teaching this chapter, one must take care to explain that Job’s candid words reflect accurately what he feels and thinks, but they do not necessarily provide a pattern ...

242. “Their Violence Comes Down on Their Own Heads”

Psalm 7:1-17

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... that the Lord “makes ready his flaming arrows” (7:13), suggesting arrows dipped in pitch or oil and then lit before shooting.3 The final two metaphors in Psalm 7 draw from other areas of life. (5) The metaphors of 7:15 are those of hunting, with the subject now changed from the Lord to the evil person. The hunter would dig a pit and camouflage it with brush, and the animals would fall into the trap. In this instance, the hunter (enemy) would fall into it himself. (6) The last metaphor (7:16) is that of ...

243. “Show Me Your Ways, Lord”

Psalm 25:1-22

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... ; it occurs for the first time with this meaning in the Psalter in 25:18. The word in this verse (slh) is, according to Goldingay, the closest word the Hebrew language has for a technical term for forgiveness, since it is only used with Yahweh as subject.[9] Rashi comments: “It is appropriate for the Great [God] to pardon Great Iniquity.”[10] This verse may be considered the core verse of the psalm.[11] 25:12 Who, then, are those who fear the Lord? This question is another version of the question of ...

244. “His Anger Lasts Only a Moment, but His Favor Lasts a Lifetime”

Psalm 30:1-12

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... was worn as a sign of mourning and deep sorrow. God replaces the suppliant’s mourning clothes with a festal garment.[19] 30:12 that my heart may sing. The syntax is difficult. The NIV renders the Hebrew noun for “glory” (kabod), the obvious subject of the verb, as “my heart.” Wilson makes the very attractive proposal to take “glory” as an exclamation, just as it is in 29:9. Thus the psalmist ends by shouting, “Glory!” just as the temple worshipers were doing in Psalm 29.[20] This ...

245. “Trust in the Lord and Do Good”

Psalm 37:1-40

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... disconsolation the prosperity of the wicked may create for the righteous, they can find consolation in trusting the Lord and doing good. Understanding the Text Psalm 37 is a wisdom psalm replete with wisdom terms (see the sidebar “Wisdom Psalms”).[1] The subject of the prosperity of the wicked is a typical topic of wisdom, here expressed particularly in proverbial truths (37:16, 17, 21–22, 37). The literary form is the alphabetic acrostic, using all twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, each new ...

246. “In Your Heart You Devise Injustice”

Psalm 58:1-11

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... the history of human conduct (“even from birth,” “from the womb,” 58:3). Sadly, their evil inclination has been generated in their inner being (58:2), leaving little hope that their social behavior is only a temporary departure from the ethical norm. If we understand the subject of 58:1 to be the “gods,” then the wicked of verse 3 are the earthlings who carry on the evil work of the gods. This poem thus moves from the idea of the gods who activate injustice in the world, to the human wicked who ...

247. The Gibeonite Deception

Joshua 9:1-27

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... to the other Canaanite kings who reacted to the Israelite threat by waging war against her and her allies (cf. 9:1–2; 10:1–5; 11:1–5), the Gibeonites, who are actually known to be good fighters (10:2), come willingly to be subjected to Israel (9:24–25). Thus, while they may not have made as direct and unambiguous a proclamation as Rahab did, their submissive attitude nonetheless points to an implicit faith. Second, in deciding to spare them, Joshua and the leaders also seem to take the necessary ...

248. Cyrus’s Proclamation and Preparation to Return

Ezra 1:1-11

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... to take many of the vessels that Nebuchadnezzar carried off to Babylon and return them to the temple of God, which they have been commissioned to build. This is a significant act by Cyrus; it shows his sincere interest in the well-being of his subject peoples. We see the author’s concern for detail in the list of articles that are returned to the temple in Jerusalem. They represent considerable value and were considered important, as seen in their mention again in Ezra 5:13–15. The inventory list does ...

249. Babylon

Jeremiah 50:1--51:64

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... and other allies of Cyrus (51:27–28)—will invade Babylon (50:1–3). In the following verses Israel is basically told to move out (50:4–20). In bookend fashion, Israel is the subject of verses 4–7 and 17–20; Israel’s foe is the subject of verses 8–10 and 14–16; and Babylon is the subject of the middle section (50:11–13). Israel’s physical return will put them in choice places. Spiritually, forgiveness will be in effect; it follows Israel’s return to the covenant relationship. The image ...

250. Gog

Ezekiel 38:1-39:29

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... attack. This is unlike any earlier occasion in the Bible when a foreign nation invades Israel. In verses 10–13 Gog shifts from being a passive instrument to a belligerent, plundering aggressor. The subject of “I will” in verses 1–9 is God. The subject of “I will” in verses 10–13 is Gog. In verses 14–16 God is the subject again. There is no inconsistency or contradiction in this, any more than there is in the statements that God/Satan told David to number the people (cf. 2 Sam. 24:1 with 1 ...

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