Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2551 to 2575 of 3160 results

Esther 5:1-8

Understanding Series

Timothy S. Laniak

... . This was certainly an attempt to make a public spectacle of Mordecai’s private insurrection (see also Esth. 2:23). The fact that Haman is delighted (v. 14) with this idea is as premature and presumptuous as his gloating over the original plan in 3:15. This sort of sadistic joy in the downfall of an enemy is the joy of triumph often feared in the psalms of lament (Ps. 35:19, 24, 26). Haman has now twice concocted plans that will backfire on him. The date that was set to witness the widespread destruction ...

2552. More Proverbs of Solomon

Proverbs 28:1-28

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

... in both lines (cf. the REB). The saying calls for purposeful work. 28:20 Antithetic. By faithful is meant one who is a person of integrity, in contrast to one who hastens (NIV, eager) to get rich. Haste is always suspect, often implying wrongdoing of some sort (19:2; 23:4–5; 28:22). 28:21 Synthetic. A legal ideal is affirmed in the “not good” sayings (cf. 18:5; 24:23). The ideal, however, can be transgressed for even the slightest profit. 28:22 Antithetic. Literally, “one evil of eye” (cf. 23 ...

2553. Riches Are Meaningless

Ecclesiastes 5:8--6:12

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Huwiler

... reading but it is also possible that the king is profitable for the land. 6:1 I have seen another evil: The Hb., lit. “there is another evil I have seen,” may set up a hypothetical situation. It is possible that Qohelet is describing the sort of thing that happens in our world rather than a specific event he has personally witnessed. 6:2 Grievous evil: The language used here is very strong. The expression lit. translates “evil illness,” and is not an expression that Qohelet uses elsewhere. At the ...

2554. All Night Long

Song of Songs 3:1-11

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Huwiler

... which is far from clear. 3:10 Its interior lovingly inlaid: The word translated “lovingly” in NIV is the noun “love.” Its syntactic relationship to its context is uncertain. Most interpreters understand it as an adverbial accusative of some sort; “lovingly” is possible but hardly certain. By the daughters of Jerusalem: “Daughters of Jerusalem” is difficult in context (the Hb. preposition is min, often “from”) and many remove it. Some connect the remaining phrase with the following verse ...

2555. I Have Come Into My Garden

Song of Songs 5:1-16

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Huwiler

... indication later in the text that the woman has been physically or psychologically traumatized by this assault. No one offers her comfort and her lover does not ever demonstrate awareness that anything untoward has happened to her. The lack of follow-up of any sort may be the strongest indication that the passage narrates a dream or fear fantasy. And yet, since in this passage as in 3:1–4 there is no explicit statement that it is a dream, other possibilities remain. This section corresponds and contrasts ...

2556. God and Idols

Jeremiah 10:1-16

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... , the use of astral phenomenon to determine the future. This method was used to read the minds of the gods concerning the future and, if that future was not desirable, then proper ritual steps could be taken to ward off danger. Divination of all sorts, including astrology, was practiced by the nations that surrounded Israel and was part of their religious practice against which Jeremiah inveighs. Verse 3 begins a motive clause explaining why God’s people should not learn the ways of the nations and in the ...

2557. Jeremiah in Prison

Jeremiah 37:1-21

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... to a threat from the Egyptians who had mobilized their armies and were on the march from the south. The Pharaoh at this time was Hophra (also known as Apries, see Jer. 44:30), who had taken the throne in 589 B.C. and had likely concluded some sort of treaty alliance with Zedekiah that may have given that king ill-founded confidence to revolt in the first place. But what exactly is going through the king’s mind when he asks Jeremiah to pray for the nation on the occasion of the withdrawal of the Babylonian ...

2558. The New Covenant Acted Out

Hosea 3:1-5

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... shrines, symbolizing the sexual fertility of the deities, and they are vigorously condemned throughout the OT (Exod. 23:24; Deut. 7:5; Lev. 26:1; Hos. 10:2; Amos 2:7–8; Mic. 5:13). The exact nature of the ephod is unknown, but it was some sort of priestly garment (Exod. 28; 39) and may have had pockets that contained divination instruments, such as the urim and thummim or sacred dice used to give answers to questions (cf. 1 Sam. 23:9–12; 30:7–8). Idols were statues or figurines representing household ...

2559. Israel Unrepentant

Hosea 6:1--7:16

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... engulfment of them (see the comment on 5:8–15), the Israelites call a day of repentance in the effort to secure for themselves God’s aid once again. Such fasts of repentance are held in Israel whenever there is a calamity of any sort—defeat by enemies, pestilence among the population, plagues of locusts, drought, famine, and so forth. Summoned by the priests, the people abstain from food and drink and all normal activity, and gather at the sanctuary to offer sacrifices, to mourn their sinfulness, and ...

2560. Israel’s Sin

Hosea 11:12--12:14

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... the holy ones (plural) is faithful.” Because God is called ʾēl, as in 11:9, but is spoken of in the third person, it is likely that the prophet himself speaks here and that he is reflecting the opposition against him (cf. 9:7). All sorts of lying accusations are being made against him by his compatriots. Contrarily, however, Judeans are still faithful to the “holy ones,” 11:12d. Who are these holy ones? Many have read the plural as a plural of majesty, to refer to God. However, the prophet Elisha ...

2561. God's Zeal for Salvation

Joel 2:18-27

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... the book of Joel—the point at which God’s jealousy leads to pity for the chosen people. God removes both the everyday judgments and the threat of final judgment from their lives, verse 18. This passage too, however, is not to be understood in terms of some sort of self-seeking on God’s part. Rather, God’s “jealousy” could also be translated as God’s “zeal”—the word has both meanings in the Hebrew. The God of the Bible is a zealous God, with a purpose that is being worked out in the world ...

2562. Judgment of Israel's Neighbors

Amos 1:1-2:5

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... (Philistines), the northwest (Tyre) and finally to the southeast (Edom, Moab), with the oracles against Judah (2:4–5) and Israel (2:6–16) returning to the center. Kerioth is mentioned elsewhere in Jer. 48:24, and may have been a royal city of some sort, since its fortresses, which may also be translated “palaces,” are mentioned. Line 13 of the Moabite stone tells us that Kerioth was the site of the sanctuary of the Moabite god Chemosh. The crime of the Moabites was that they “burned to lime the ...

2563. The Indictment and Punishment of Israel Spelled Out

Amos 4:1-13

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... –d does not say that the sacrifices and tithes were given “every” morning and “every” three days, but that may be the intended meaning—that the Israelite worshipers were repetitious in their offerings in order to show off their wealth. We encounter the same sort of pride in the modern church when a rich person makes a show of a lavish gift. Both Bethel and Gilgal were important shrines in the northern kingdom. Bethel, which lay to the south of the capital city, was taken over from the Canaanites ...

2564. Jonah's Prayer

Jonah 2:1-10

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... in Sheol (Ps. 6:5; 88:11–12), and so Jonah will be driven out from Yahweh’s presence forever and will never again be able to look toward Yahweh’s dwelling in heaven or on earth, verse 4 (RSV). Jonah is sinking toward death. In Hebrew thought, every sort of distress or illness or trouble was considered to be a weak form of death. Thus, while Jonah is not yet dead, he can say that he has been in Sheol, and that Yahweh has delivered him from there, verse 6. Jonah “went down”—once again the vertical ...

2565. Judgment Against Samaria and Jerusalem

Micah 1:1-7

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... to his inner filling with the Spirit of God. This superscription, on the other hand, says that Micah saw (ḥāzāh) the words of the Lord, and, by emending the text, the NIV has taken that to mean that Micah had a supernatural vision of some sort. The original Hebrew reads simply, “The word of the LORD that came to Micah . . . which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.” As is evident in Numbers 24:4, 16, ḥāzāh can refer to an auditory revelation as well as a visual one. Thus, there is ...

2566. Habakkuk’s Second Complaint

Habakkuk 2:2-20, Habakkuk 1:12--2:1

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... has implied that one of the problems in the community (as psalms often make clear) is deception; people’s word cannot be trusted (1:4). It would be tempting for people to reckon that Habakkuk’s alleged revelation from Yahweh was something of this sort. Yahweh declares that it will not prove false. But the revelation does relate to the appointed time, to the end (NIV has “an” appointed time, but that word also has “the” before it). There is an “appointed time” within Yahweh’s intention to ...

2567. Habakkuk’s Prayer

Habakkuk 3:1-19

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... praiseworthiness are then seen as reflected in the heavens by the clouds that simultaneously reveal and obscure Yahweh’s coming, and in the lightning that illumines the sky against this somber backdrop; and that points to the intervention of this fiery warrior deity to sort out affairs on earth in the way Habakkuk has urged. 3:6 It is theologically true that His ways are eternal, but in the context it is more likely that Habakkuk is declaring that his pathways, his route, are “age-old.” The expression ...

2568. The Promised Glory of the New House

Haggai 2:1-9

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... will be that the desired of all nations will come to the temple. The noun “the desired” comes from the verb for “desire” or “covet” in the tenth commandment in Deuteronomy 5:21. It is not a technical term but a word to denote the sorts of things that human beings delight in and appreciate and value. Yahweh here makes in a nutshell the promises expressed in passages such as Isaiah 60–62, which describe at length the nations bringing their riches and resources to Jerusalem and also make more ...

2569. The Gold Lampstand and the Two Olive Trees

Zechariah 4:1-14

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

... had not been asleep, but the angel/messenger had to rouse him forcibly, as a man is wakened from his sleep. 4:2–5 In this fifth vision, Zechariah saw a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top. Excavations have discovered pottery versions of this sort of lamp stand in which a tubular base supports a reservoir of oil. The rim of this bowl holds seven lights on it, with seven channels to the lights. The lamps were small bowls, with spouts for the wicks pinched in their rims. (The familiar seven-armed ...

2570. We Are God's Temple

1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

... church. We need one another. We lean on one another sometimes and when we work together we accomplish more than any of us could ever accomplish working on our own. We call that cooperation don't we? Cooperation is important at school, on the playground, in our families and all sorts of places. But most of all, it is what the church of Jesus Christ is all about. We belong to Him, but we also belong to one another. *Milton Friedman

2571. Jesus Teaches Nicodemus

John 3:1-21

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... 3:5 Water and the Spirit: It is impossible to tell grammatically whether water and Spirit are two distinct elements or one. The fact that both are governed by a single preposition in Greek suggests that they are one. Yet in 1 John 5:6 the same sort of construction (“by water and blood”) is immediately followed by a singling out of each element with its own preposition and definite article (lit., “not with the water alone but with the water and with the blood”). The decision must therefore be made on ...

2572. Jesus Talks with a Samaritan Woman

John 4:1-26, John 4:27-38, John 4:39-42

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... fields, and they are the ones who in verse 38 are to reap a harvest for which others have worked. The roles in this drama are not fixed. Jesus is not speaking in allegories or riddles but using a simple metaphor capable of several applications. A transition of sorts can be detected at verse 37. If the controlling thought of verses 34–36 was “as the Father sent me,” the controlling thought of verses 37–38 is “I am sending you” (cf. 20:21; also 17:18). But the fact that the disciples play no part ...

2573. Jesus Predicts Peter's Denial

John 13:31-38

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... ; Jesus’ glorification means only his departure and the pain of his absence. The disciples will be no better off than the religious authorities whom Jesus twice rebuffed with the harsh words, Where I am going, you cannot come (cf. 7:34; 8:21). What sort of glory was this? For a moment, the question remains unresolved. Verses 34–35 provide the interpretive key to the footwashing account in verses 1–20 and will in turn be interpreted by Jesus’ teaching on love and mission in 15:1–16:4a. The ...

2574. The Impending Departure II

John 16:5-16, John 16:17-33

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... the world, but because his return to the Father makes possible for the believer a new relationship to God in prayer. To pray to the Father in Jesus’ name (vv. 23, 24, 26) is to have direct access to the Father. Jesus will not be a sort of go-between who takes the disciples’ requests and presents them to the Father (v. 26). He does not see his role with the Father as that of a heavenly intercessor. Even though there is NT testimony elsewhere that the risen Jesus “always lives to intercede” for ...

2575. Pilate and the Condemnation of Jesus

John 18:28-40, John 19:1-16

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... , but of its source—and therefore of its nature. Its source is God, even as Jesus comes from God. As God sends Jesus, so God and God alone brings the kingdom to realization. It is not established by armed violence; Jesus is not the sort of king who needs, or permits, the protection of the sword (cf. vv. 10–11). Jesus’ redefinition has stretched the meaning of kingship almost to the breaking point. Pilate, somewhat confused, can only repeat his initial question: You are a king, then? (v. 37a; cf ...

Showing results