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Showing 4201 to 4225 of 4681 results

4201. Elisha is Jeered

2 Kings 2:23-25

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... , is to treat God with disrespect and to risk immediate retribution—as various of the prophetic narratives thus far have told us (e.g., 1 Kgs. 13:1–4; 2 Kgs. 1:2–17). Elisha shows himself to be a true prophet as he curses the children and sees two bears come out of the woods and maul forty-two of them (v. 24; cf. 1 Kgs. 13:20–28 and 20:35–36 for divine judgment through animals in response to prophetic words). The succession narrative ends with Elisha’s trip to Mount Carmel (v. 25), the scene of ...

4202. Jeroboam II King of Israel

2 Kings 14:23-29

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... after the passing of Jehoash—the real power in the land—that Azariah is able to consolidate Amaziah’s gains in Edom by claiming the port of Elath (cf. 1 Kgs. 9:26). The fact that he is called simply “the king,” with no further indentification made, bears out our interpretation of the whole passage. The “humbling” of the house of David thus continues (cf. 1 Kgs. 11:39; 15:16–22; 22:48–49; 2 Kgs. 11–12). There is limited success of the kind enjoyed in the old days of empire (cf. the defeat ...

4203. Azariah King of Judah

2 Kings 15:1-7

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

4204. Jerusalem's Deliverance Foretold

2 Kings 19:1-13

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... in other words, should not be a reason for despair. This is not a people under God’s judgment, like those in verse 26—grass sprouting on the roof, withering in the sun for lack of deep roots. This is a people under God’s providential care, guaranteed to bear fruit (cf. Matt. 13:1–30, 36–43; Mark 4:1–20; Luke 8:1–15). The third part of the prophecy makes explicit the circumstances in which Sennacherib will return home by the way that he came (vv. 28, 33). He will do so before the army encamped ...

4205. Hezekiah's Prayer

2 Kings 19:14-19

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

4206. Isaiah Prophesies Sennacherib’s Fall

2 Kings 19:20-37

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

4207. Amon King of Judah

2 Kings 21:19-26

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... in 2 Kings 16–20, the deliverance of Jerusalem under Hezekiah notwithstanding. With Manasseh, God’s patience breaks, and hints of disaster give way to explicit prophetic announcements. Fifty-five years of the worst apostasy Judah has seen are just too much to bear. 21:1–9 Manasseh is the very worst of the Judean kings, indulging in and adding to all that has been most reprehensible in the religion of Israel in the preceding chapters. His father’s reforms are reversed; the high places are rebuilt ...

4208. The Ark Brought to Jerusalem

1 Chronicles 15:1-16:6

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... the course of this long era,” but also reflects “disputes among different groups and individual authors over what the precise status and classification of the singers would be” (1 Chronicles 10–29, pp. 658–59). In this way 1 Chron. 15–16 bears witness to processes of identity formation among the clergy groups in the Second Temple period, in which the singers, musicians, and gatekeepers are presented as full-fledged Levites. 15:26 The change of the number of sacrificial animals (“a bull and a ...

4209. Joash Repairs the Temple

2 Chronicles 24:1-16

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... to call them back from their wicked ways. This is particularly illustrated in the Chronicler’s own material inserted here. He narrates the event where Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest was inspired by the Lord’s spirit to prophesy against the king. His message bears key concepts of the Chronicler’s theology: because you have forsaken (ʿazab) the LORD, he has forsaken (ʿazab) you (24:20; cf. 24:18, 24, 25). This dark hour in Joash’s reign reached its deepest point when by order of the king they ...

4210. The Wickedness of Joash

2 Chronicles 24:17-27

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

4211. Rebuilding the Temple

Ezra 3:7-13

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... with this act of worship—rebuilding a proper altar on which to offer sacrifice. He also linked with it the names of the later leaders, Jeshua and Zerubbabel, taking his cue from the list of leaders in 2:2, and dignified them with the patronymics they bear in Haggai 1:1. The high priest is here placed before the governor in recognition of the religious nature of the task. Verses 2–3 function as a flashback. The building of the altar logically precedes the sacrifices in verse 6 and so, implicitly, verse 1 ...

4212. Those Guilty of Intermarriage

Ezra 10:18-44

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... ,” which may represent mibbene ʾazzûr (see BHS). Then the reference is to a clan that may have fallen out of Ezra 2:16 but was preserved in 1 Esd. 5:15 (see Williamson, Ezra, Nehemiah, pp. 22, 25). Since in 1 Esd. some of the names in the context bear little relation to those in the MT, it may be better to postulate a form closer to its consonants. Thus the NJB prefers “of the sons of Zaccai,” which relates to the clan name in Neh. 7:14/Ezra 2:9. Here an Aramaic form of the name “Daccai,” may ...

4213. Priests and Levites

Nehemiah 12:1-26

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... verses 8–9 took them as such, as comparison with the list of returning Levites in 7:43 indicates. 12:10–11 Someone subsequently supplied a checklist of the high-priestly succession in the postexilic period, which enables us to get our general chronological bearings. The names cover the high priests mentioned in verses 1, 12, 22–23, and 26. This list found in the archives continues the earlier one preserved in 1 Chronicles 6:4–14 that closed with Jehozadak father of Jeshua. This list also presents ...

4214. Haman's Rage Against Mordecai

Esther 5:9-14

Understanding Series

Timothy S. Laniak

... moment that signals an invisible change in Esther. Underneath the garments of Persian royalty is a true Jew, a determined advocate for her people. She will now use the accoutrements of her role for larger purposes. While the other Jews continue to fast, she will bear their cause under the disguise of a feast. Like Moses, she will return to the court as a deliverer—and during the specified time for Passover. After reclothing herself, she takes her stand in the inner court of the palace, facing the king and ...

4215. The Branch from Jesse

Isaiah 11:1-16

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... of this promise could have been worked out in terms of the image of the fruitfulness of a tree, verses 2–3a describe the promise according to a different framework, centering on the image of spirit. When Yahweh’s spirit rests on the branch, it bears fruit in the form of capacities to which human beings (including monarchs) generally only pretend. That was true of Assyria’s wisdom and understanding (10:13). It was true earlier of the nations’ counsel (8:10) and of Judah’s power (see 3:25; the ...

4216. A Prophecy Against Egypt

Isaiah 19:1-25

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... its intellectual tradition, the famous asset of Egyptian life was the Nile with its crucial role in Egyptian agriculture, industry, economics, and life. That fails (vv. 5–10). In the moment of disaster its religion and its advisers are helpless. Indeed, these advisers bear responsibility. They have led Egypt astray and made them wander about like helpless drunks (v. 14). If one is to give political precision to the charge, they did not know how to read the Assyrians or the Cushites. How foolish of Judah ...

4217. Deliverance of Israel

Isaiah 27:1-13

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... rather be at peace with them, too: it is the principle that has underlain the poems on peoples such as Moab and Egypt. Warmaking is not Yahweh’s essential nature, either—also quite a statement in this warring book. (d) Yahweh will make the vine bear fruit (27:6–11). In 5:24 root and blossom (NIV there translates “flower”) were destined to rot and blow away, so verse 6 promises another reversal. But the people’s present experience contrasts with that promise. We can hear Israel’s prayers here ...

4218. Sennacherib's Fall

Isaiah 37:21-38

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... Indeed, the sign-ness of this event may lie somewhere else than in the not-very-remarkable event itself. The promise about having something to eat is literal. Without that, nothing else is possible. But the fact that the community can once more take root below and bear fruit above (v. 31) is also a sign in itself. The fulfillment of the one is the guarantee of the other, because Yahweh promises to make it so. Hezekiah is invited to make that a matter of faith, too. That a remnant, a band of survivors should ...

4219. Sin, Confession and Redemption

Isaiah 59:1-21

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... (v. 4) and their guilt (v. 3). That is a distinction Yahweh cannot live with. Their relationship is designed to be one in which Yahweh’s face is turned toward the people in love and concern that issue in action, but at present Yahweh cannot bear the sight of their wrongdoing and therefore neither does Yahweh see their need or respond to it. Yes, you are right in those accusatory prayers, Yahweh grants. I am not listening or looking and neither am I therefore acting to deliver you and fulfill my promises ...

4220. Jeremiah Buys a Field

Jeremiah 32:1-44

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... the boom, so to speak, on top of their heads. After all, not only did the people practice abominable religious practices in their personal religion (see v. 29), there was also a perversion of the national religion (They set up abominable idols in the house that bears my Name, v. 34). They also set up altars to the false God Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, the valley to the southeast of the city. They actually practiced a form of child sacrifice associated with the pagan god Molech there. God never asked ...

4221. Thank God We're Free at Last

Romans 6:12-23

Sermon

King Duncan

... was opening many of his concerts with the song “I Am the Man, Thomas.” The song is about the conversation between Jesus Christ and Doubting Thomas. “Look at these nail scars here in my hands/They pierced me in the side, Thomas, I am the Man/They made me bear the cross, Thomas, I am the Man/They laid me in the tomb, Thomas, I am the Man/In three days I arose, Thomas, I am the Man.” Some of you will remember that back in the 1970s Dylan was reportedly converted to Christ. His background is Judaism ...

4222. Who Is This Man?

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... of what God is really like. I’m reminded of the final scene from the movie Shrek. In case you haven’t seen the movie, Shrek is the story of an ogre, a big, fat, green ogre who rescues the Princess Fiona. Fiona is a beautiful creature who bears a striking resemblance to Cameron Diaz with red hair. However, Princess Fiona is under a curse. Every night, she becomes an ogre, every bit as green and fat as Shrek. Every day, she becomes Cameron Diaz with red hair again. This cycle is to repeat itself until, in ...

4223. Before You Start Ripping Your Clothing

Joel 2:12-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... we are asking God to cleanse us of anything that might prevent His perfect will from being done in our lives. We, too, are His people. We, too, miss the mark of holy living. We pray to be restored to the kind of relationship with Him that allows us to bear the burden of a fallen world. 1. A. M. Hodgkin, http://www.preceptaustin.org/joel_commentaries. 2. (New York: Schocken Books, 1982). 3. From a sermon by C. Thomas Hilton.

4224. You Are God's Handiwork

Ephesians 2:10

Sermon

King Duncan

... Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote a poem just one month before he was executed: “Who am I? They often tell me I would step from my cell’s confinement calmly, cheerfully, firmly, like a squire from his country-house. Who am I? They also tell me I would bear the days of misfortune calmly, smilingly, proudly, like one accustomed to win. Am I really then all that which other men tell of? Or am I only what I know of myself, Restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage, struggling for breath . . . weary ...

4225. About Donkeys and True Greatness

Mark 11:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... of great humility. On the other side of the city, Pilate was entering the city on a great stallion, while Jesus was riding into the city on a young and unbroken donkey. Pilate was surrounded by a security force of Roman soldiers bearing swords and shields and heavy armor. Jesus entered the city surrounded by unarmed peasants waving palm branches, the symbol of peace. Pilate’s soldiers sneered; Jesus’ followers sang, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” No greater contrast ...

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