Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2951 to 2975 of 3852 results

2 Kings 5:1-27

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... . 20–21). He concocts a story that is designed to explain Elisha’s change of heart (he has two new arrivals to provide for, v. 22). It is a clever ploy, for the amount requested is not excessive in relation to the massive sum Naaman was originally prepared to pay (v. 5)—one talent of silver and two sets of clothing out of ten. Refraining from asking too much (and particularly from asking for any gold), he is unlikely to arouse suspicion. And so it proves. Unsuspecting Naaman gladly divests himself of ...

2952. Jotham King of Judah

2 Kings 15:32-38

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... and requests his help (vv. 7–8). It is a strategy that succeeds well; Tiglath-Pileser descends upon Damascus and captures it and removes both Rezin and its inhabitants, though by different means (cf. the reverse “exodus” implied by deportation to Kir, the original Aramean homeland according to Amos 9:7). The effect of this invasion on Israel has already been described in 15:29. Jerusalem has been saved, though at the cost of its independence. The reader of Isaiah, to whose book we are directed by ...

2953. Hezekiah King of Judah

2 Kings 18:1-16

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... , he broke into pieces the bronze snake of the wilderness story (Num. 21:4–9; cf. 1 Kgs. 8:1–9 for other religious items from the Mosaic age that had been deposited in the temple). The OT tradition does not present Nehushtan as having originally been made for worship. It is unlikely that the authors of Kings mean us to understand that it was worshiped continually, even in the monarchic period (cf. the additional note). It is most unlikely, then, that the name is meant to echo uncleanness (NIV footnote ...

2954. Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem

2 Kings 18:17-37

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... Israel in 17:24ff. The emphasis is in any case upon what has happened to the home cities of the gods, as it is in 19:12–13, where the kings of these cities are mentioned. We should understand by they, then (have they rescued Samaria?), the original gods of Samaria in general, not the particular ones mentioned just beforehand. 19:1 He tore his clothes: We have grown accustomed to monarchs tearing their clothes, signifying deep emotion (1 Kgs. 21:27; 2 Kgs. 5:7–8; 6:30; 11:14). The contrast between wicked ...

2955. The Song of the Vineyard

Isaiah 5:1-7

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... as bleak as their opening. Rebellion and darkness ultimately bracket them. 5:1–7 The chapter opens with a lament for a disappointing vineyard. The readers of this book can easily work out what this vineyard stands for (see 3:14; also Ps. 80). For the original audience of Isaiah’s song, matters were more complicated. Cultivating a vineyard can be an image for courting someone (see Song 2:15; 7:8–9, 12; 8:11–12). Isaiah appears before his audience as a minstrel singing a love song on behalf of his ...

2956. Isaiah’s Commission

Isaiah 6:1-13

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... turn from the ways that earned it can escape it. The sign of cleansing that Isaiah receives is absurdly inadequate. How could being touched with a coal effect this sort of purification? The insufficiency of the sign highlights the fact that the cleansing originates within the person of the holy God. Sacramental rites such as this are the means by which Yahweh incarnates grace to humankind. 6:8–10 It now becomes clear that holiness does mean judgment. Even if no specific pollution attached to Isaiah’s ...

2957. Fear God

Isaiah 8:11-22

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... testimony or teaching (NIV law) against the time when Yahweh acts and it is proved true. This may denote entrusting the contents of his message to his disciples, or perhaps actually putting it into writing and literally sealing it. That might be the beginning of the origin of the book called Isaiah. The exhortations in verses 12–13 are plural; Isaiah’s disciples (v. 16) are included in them. 8:19–22 This teaching/testimony ought to be the people’s recourse when they want to know how to look to the ...

2958. God’s Judgment on Assyria

Isaiah 10:5-19

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... symbol of calamity for Judah becomes the symbol of calamity for Assyria, with the thoroughness of which Judah has been warned (with v. 19 cf. 6:11–13). A more down-to-earth version comes in 37:36. Additional Notes 10:6 Send/dispatch (lit. “command”): originally Yahweh sends a word (9:8; 55:11), often via a prophet (6:8; 48:16; 61:1), and sends Israel as aide (42:19) and Israelites as proclaimers (66:19). Yahweh can send saviors/deliverers from other peoples (19:20), including by implication Cyrus the ...

2959. The Helper of Israel

Isaiah 41:1-29

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... Specifically, Yahweh alone had announced them ahead of time. That is itself an evidence for that earlier claim to be the one who initiated those events. When did Yahweh do that? If Abraham is still in the picture, then the claim refers back to Yahweh’s original commitment to Abraham, the giving of a promise that Abraham would go to another land and become a mighty people and a blessing to the world. Israel’s long story, announced and then initiated by Yahweh, is evidence that Yahweh is God. But Cyrus is ...

2960. Israel the Chosen

Isaiah 44:1-5

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... 5 corresponds to 43:1–7. Once more one might have expected a legal charge like that in 43:22–28 to lead into the “therefore” which introduces a sentencing, but once more Yahweh instead proceeds But now. Once again, Jacob-Israel is reminded about its origins and promised Yahweh’s help (’azar). It is a rather feeble word in English, but in Hebrew (v. 2a) the word has some of the resonances of “salvation.” Once again Yahweh bids Jacob-Israel do not be afraid (v. 2b). But that “but now” in ...

2961. Jerusalem to Be Inhabited

Isaiah 44:24--45:25

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... of blessing them. Far from Cyrus gaining from his victories, they themselves will (v. 14). Once more the promises to the Davidic king apply to Jacob-Israel as a whole (cf. Ps. 72). But that is only a reassertion of their original application to all Abraham’s people, for the recognition at the end of verse 14 is the fulfillment of Genesis 12:3b. Recognizing Israel and recognizing Yahweh are interdependent. “Universalism” and “nationalism” complement each other (“universalism” in this context ...

2962. Israel's Sin and the Servant's Obedience

Isaiah 50:1-11

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... s loss of faith and hope. It is weary (cf. 40:28–31). The prophet’s gift to sustain weariness is a word, the word that those foregoing chapters have expounded. This present testimony continues from that in 49:1–6, which spoke of the original divine summoning to this ministry. Here, 50:4–9 speaks of the ongoing divine resourcing. And the prophet has behaved like a model pupil, attentive to the Teacher’s every word rather than resistant like the nightmare pupils who sometimes appear in Proverbs (v ...

2963. Salvation for Others

Isaiah 56:1-8

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... suggests (Isaiah 40–66, p. 314). But Yahweh is also fulfilling that other implicit commitment to restore blessing to all peoples through their association with the descendants of Abraham. This welcoming of foreigners is also a response to Solomon’s prayer at the original dedication of this house of God (1 Kgs. 8:41–43). 56:8 This has implications for the community itself, for it relates to promises Yahweh made to Israel. Yahweh is fulfilling a commitment to restore the surviving Judeans (see 11:12 ...

2964. The Glory of Zion

Isaiah 60:1-22

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... and the temple in Jerusalem, the nations—in the person of Tyre’s king and Sheba’s queen—brought cedar, pine, algum-wood, bronze, gold, spices, and precious stones. The Preacher envisions Jerusalem made wondrously splendid again, even going far beyond its original magnificence. This expansion of previous glory is often found in typology. In the same way that the Judean community’s departure from Babylon was to both parallel the first exodus and exceed it in splendor, so the re-building of Jerusalem ...

2965. Signs, Sayings, and Oracles of Judgment

Ezekiel 12:1-28, Ezekiel 13:1-23, Ezekiel 14:1-11, Ezekiel 14:12-23

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... report in Ezekiel 1). The terms Ezekiel uses for the activities of the women present further difficulty for the interpreter—some of them appear only here in the Hebrew Bible (see the Additional Notes on 13:17–23 and 13:18). But regardless of the original context of this language in the ancient Near East, Ezekiel clearly states his view on the purpose of these odd rituals: the women are engaged in prophecy (albeit false prophecy, v. 17) and in divination (v. 23; Greenberg, Ezekiel 1–20, p. 240). We can ...

2966. Two Adulterous Sisters

Ezekiel 23:1-49

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... . Ezekiel 16:46 calls Jerusalem, Samaria, and Sodom three sisters. But here we see a closer relationship between Jerusalem and Samaria. Ezekiel 16:3, 45 identified Jerusalem’s mother as “a Hittite,” an identification meant to stress the city’s non-Israelite origins. The intention here is different. It is likely that Ezekiel means to remind the reader of the union of all Israel’s tribes, which came to an end when the northern tribes under Jeroboam seceded to form an independent northern kingdom (1 ...

2967. Jerusalem’s Siege, in Parable and Sign

Ezekiel 24:1-14, Ezekiel 24:15-27

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... see the comparison in Block, Ezekiel 1–24, p. 772). Most interpreters, therefore, argue that Ezekiel’s editors inserted the date and that they had it either from 2 Kgs. itself or from the official record the writer of Kings used. Of course, whether the date is original or not, Ezekiel says that he delivered this message to the exiles in Babylon on the very day that the siege of Jerusalem began. We may doubt the accuracy of his claim, but the claim itself still stands. 24:3 A parable. The same Heb. word ...

2968. Transition to Jesus’ Public Ministry

Matthew 4:12-17

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... Israel with words of Isaiah that promise salvation to Israel. Matthew draws on Isaiah 9:1 to connect Capernaum to the quotation; Zebulun and Naphtali are regions corresponding to two of the twelve tribes of Israel. Capernaum is a city located in the region that was originally allotted to the tribe of Naphtali (see the map of the region of the Sea of Galilee in the first century). Light, in the context of Isaiah 9, refers to God’s salvation and freedom for Israel (9:1–5) through a promised Davidic king ...

2969. Sabbath Controversies with the Pharisees

Matthew 12:1-14

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... altercations with Galilean Pharisees resulted from his eating with tax collectors and sinners (9:9–13) and his healing activity (9:34). In chapter 12 the conflict arises from his interpretation of Sabbath regulations (12:1–14) as well as the origins of his healing power (12:22–29). In subsequent chapters Matthew will introduce oral traditions concerning the law as another point of conflict between the Pharisees and Jesus (15:1–20). In these various debates Matthew emphasizes that Jesus rightly ...

2970. Parables Discourse: Importance of Response to the Kingdom Message

Matthew 13:1-23

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... soils is the reception of the gospel by the “good soil.” This soil represents the person who hears and understands the message of the kingdom and therefore produces a bumper crop. A harvest of thirty, sixty, or one hundred times the original seed sown indicates an amazing yield. What begins as small and seemingly insignificant will surpass expectations, a motif woven throughout the Parables Discourse. Teaching the Text Jesus teaches that the kingdom has an element of hiddenness in the present time that ...

2971. The Disciples Confess Jesus as the Messiah

Matthew 16:1-4, Matthew 16:5-12, Matthew 16:13-20

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... , which fits the region of Palestine, was omitted by scribes copying the text in other areas of the Mediterranean world, where the particulars of a red sky and what it signaled made less sense. In other words, 16:2–3 are quite possibly original to Matthew, since their omission is explained by their regional particularity. 16:4 A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign. Jesus has already used this phrase to describe the Pharisees (12:39) in their request for a sign, evoking Deuteronomy 32 ...

2972. The Disciples’ Insufficient Faith to Heal as Jesus Heals

Matthew 17:14-23, Matthew 17:24-27

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” Given that this line is missing from quite a number of reliable Greek manuscripts, and that something quite like it occurs in the parallel account in Mark 9:29, the sentence is not likely original to Matthew. Particularly in the Gospels, copyists often added words to one Gospel that they recalled from another in its parallel account. 17:22 When they came together in Galilee. Rather than assuming that the disciples were somehow scattered prior to 17:22 ...

2973. Community Discourse: Care for Others in the Kingdom

Matthew 18:1-9, Matthew 18:10-14, Matthew 18:15-20

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... sister sins. The focal point of Jesus’ teaching moves from a child (teknon) to little ones (mikros) to a brother or sister (adelphos). The inclusion of “against you” is debatable from the manuscript evidence. It is likely that it was not included originally in Matthew but was added by scribes due to auditory confusion and elision (hamartese = sins; hamarte eis se = sins against you).6 you have won them over. The goal of going to an erring person privately is restoration. This same goal of restoration ...

2974. Jesus Demonstrates Messianic Authority over the Temple

Matthew 21:12-17, Matthew 21:18-22

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... that “even the blind and the lame” could keep him out (5:6 LXX: hoi typhloi kai hoi oi choloi). David, in turn, calls his enemies defending Jerusalem “those ‘lame and blind’” (5:8). The narrator of 2 Samuel then indicates that this is the origin of the saying “The ‘blind and lame’ will not enter the palace [house]” (5:8). As R. T. France suggests, “Here, in ‘the house,’ Jesus the Son of David is approached by the blind and the lame, and, far from dismissing them [as David does ...

2975. Three Parables about the Unfaithfulness of the Jewish Leaders

Matthew 22:1-14, Matthew 21:33-46, Matthew 21:28-32, Matthew 21:23-27

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... on Torah (22:34–40). F. Jesus confounds the Jewish leaders with a riddle (22:41–46). 21:25 John’s baptism—where did it come from? Wisely, Jesus counters with a question not directly about his own authority (21:23) but about the origin (i.e., authority) of John’s baptism. Jesus is asking if the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem recognized that John’s baptizing ministry was authorized by God. By focusing his question on John, Jesus situates the contest between the crowds and the leaders, since the ...

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