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Showing 401 to 425 of 606 results

401. Jacob’s Flocks Increase

Genesis 30:25-43

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... ” in all directions (Hamilton, Genesis: Chapters 18–50, p. 284). The increase of his flocks at Haran was a foretaste of the fulfillment of God’s promise that he would experience in the promised land. From his increasing wealth Jacob was able to acquire maidservants and menservants, and camels and donkeys. The deceiver who had been deceived was now besting the person who had deceived him by strictly adhering to the terms of their contract; the irony of Jacob’s success is rich. Additional Notes 30:27 ...

402. Dinah and the Shechemites

Genesis 34:1-31

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... into a pact with the town of Shechem. The pact would permit any of Jacob’s children to negotiate marriages with the local people. It would also open all the surrounding territory for grazing his flocks, and his family would be able to trade and . . . acquire property. Aware that Jacob had bought a plot of land (33:19), Hamor appealed to his longing for ownership of land in Canaan. Since Hamor’s position and power greatly exceeded Jacob’s, he thought he could easily entice Jacob and his sons into an ...

403. Solomon Asks for Wisdom

1 Kings 3:1-15

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... I will give you a wise and discerning heart: The emphasis of the line, and indeed of the whole section 3:4–15, is that this wisdom comes as a supernatural gift from God. It is not innate (as it is implicitly in 2:1–4); it is not acquired by patient hard work, utilizing careful observation and self-discipline (as it is explicitly in much of Prov. and in 1 Kgs. 4:29–34). This is wisdom from above, not below. See further R.E. Clements, Wisdom in Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1992), esp. pp. 94–122 ...

404. Solomon's Daily Provisions

1 Kings 4:20-28

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... breaking God’s law early in his reign (and particularly the law as it is found in Deuteronomy), was storing up trouble for himself in the future. Aware of this precedent, we need also to be aware of Deuteronomy 17:16, which forbids the king from acquiring “great numbers of horses for himself” and further forbids him from making the people “return to Egypt to get more of them.” Solomon clearly infringes the first part of this prohibition in 1 Kings 4:26; he will infringe the second in 1 Kings 10:26 ...

405. The Man of God from Judah

1 Kings 13:1-34

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... deliver it—if blessing is to follow (13:11–32). 13:1–6 Jeroboam had been promised a dynasty as enduring as David’s, if only he would obey God (1 Kgs. 11:38). He had not, however, been promised a temple and temple worship, and his moves to acquire these now elicit prophetic opposition in the shape of a man of God from Judah. His focus is in the first instance upon the altar and not the dynasty, which will come under consideration in 14:7–13. Yet his words already assume the end of the dynasty (even ...

406. Famine in Besieged Samaria

2 Kings 6:24-7:2

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... retreat. General plunder of the Aramean camp ensues (v. 16), with the consequence that economic conditions in Samaria immediately improve. The skeptical officer—ironically stationed at the very gate where he had anticipated seeing no trade (v. 2)—is trampled in the scramble to acquire goods (vv. 17–20), fulfilling Elisha’s prophecy that he would not share in the bounty. He has stood in the way of God’s salvation, as kings and their officials often do in these Elisha stories, and he has died in a ...

407. Parables Discourse: The “Already and Not Yet” of the Kingdom

Matthew 13:24-30, Matthew 13:31-35, Matthew 13:36-43, Matthew 13:44-46, Matthew 13:47-52

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... value. Often, individuals discover that they have “hidden” treasures, items worth a great deal more than their appearance suggests. In one episode, a man with a passion for collecting Chinese rhinoceros-horn cups discovers that the set that he spent about $5,000 to acquire—a large amount of money to him—is worth at least $1 million. The appraiser notes how, simply by pursuing something he loves, the man has gained a fortune.2 Quotations: If the kingdom is in a real sense hidden in the present, then ...

408. Jesus Transfigured as a Foreshadowing of Future Glory

Matthew 17:1-13

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... Grey, whom the Hobbits mostly appreciate for his fireworks displays, is much more than they can imagine in his person and power. Film: Star Wars. We also see the theme of hidden glory in the Star Wars series. In the first movie, Luke Skywalker and his newly acquired protocol droid, C3PO, are forced into a mini adventure, chasing after R2D2, who has escaped on a search for Obi-Wan Kenobi. Obi-Wan is in reality a great Jedi, yet he has been living on Luke’s desert home planet for years. This general, who ...

409. Jesus, Messiah and Lord, Is True Interpreter of the Torah

Matthew 22:15-22, Matthew 22:23-33, Matthew 22:34-40, Matthew 22:41-46

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... the Text Jesus is the true interpreter of the Torah and able to navigate wisely the tests of his opponents. Human Experience: The following quotation is attributed to Albert Einstein: “Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.” This definition of wisdom fits various Old Testament proverbs, where wisdom is to be gained by careful attention to God’s ways, openness to correction, and, most of all, fearing or revering the Lord (Prov. 1:7). As such, the pursuit of ...

410. Getting Ready for the Passover

Luke 22:7-38, Luke 22:1-6

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... sees the beauty of a peasant woman’s tenacious struggles against cold and hunger and the selfishness of those around her. She retains compassion and unquenchable good humor, and she is sacrificial to the end. The narrator concludes, She never tried to acquire things for herself. She wouldn’t struggle to buy things which would then mean more to her than life itself. All her life she never tried to dress smartly in the kind of clothes which embellish cripples and disguise evildoers. . . . She never ...

411. The Gospel of God in Christ through Paul

Romans 1:1-17

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

... be God’s legal declaration that the believer in Jesus is righteous before God; that is, God’s righteousness is imputed to the sinner’s standing before God. The primary support for such a perspective is found in Paul’s emphasis in Romans on faith as the sole means of acquiring God’s righteousness (cf. 1:17; 3:21–22; 4:3, 5–6, 9, 11, 13, 22; 9:30–31; 10:3, 4, 6, 10; see also Gal. 2:20–21; 3:6, 21–22; 5:5; Phil. 3:9). To be sure, Paul refers to faith as the basis ...

412. The Coming Judgment Calls for the Saints to Leave Babylon

Revelation 18:1-24

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... :5; Prov. 16:5, 18; Isa. 2:17; Matt. 23:12; Luke 18:9–14; 2 Thess. 2:4; James 4:16). Earlier in the book of Revelation, the risen Christ rebuked the church at Laodicea for this very attitude: “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing’” (3:17). Pride not only comes before a fall; it comes before judgment. Every power cluster that does not honor and glorify God, be it religious, economic, political, social, or military in nature, represents a quest for self-deification and ...

413. The Sin Offering

Leviticus 4:1--5:13

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... unrelated root. The whole atonement system in Leviticus is complex. According to Roy Gane,3it worked by first transferring impurity from the people to the sanctuary and then subsequently cleansing the sanctuary on the Day of Atonement. When people sinned or acquired impurity, they could transfer their sin or impurity to the sanctuary by making a sin offering. Then, once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the sanctuary itself was purged from the impurities that had accumulated throughout the year. If sin ...

414. Living by God’s Sexual Standards

Leviticus 18:1-30

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... .4Diodorus (Bib. hist. 20.14.4–7) and Porphyry (Abst. 2.56) describe these child sacrifices. Diodorus says that in 310 BC the Carthaginians came to believe that they had seriously offended the gods by replacing the children of the best families with children acquired for the purpose of sacrifice. To make amends they sacrificed two hundred children picked from the best families.5 Interpretive Insights 18:1–5 You must not do as they do in Egypt . . . in the land of Canaan. On “I am the Lord your ...

415. Keeping Promises

Numbers 30:1-16

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... obligation” similar to a vow, except vows involve giving something to God or abstaining from something for God, while a pledge involves commitments made in God’s name toward persons other than God,3 as when Abraham’s servant swears to his master not to acquire a wife for Isaac from the Canaanites (Gen. 24:9), or Saul’s oath “as the Lord lives” not to harm the medium of Endor (1 Sam. 28:10). he must not break his word. Literally, one must not “profane, desecrate” (halal [see comments at ...

416. The “Nine Lives” of David

1 Samuel 19:1-24

Teach the Text

Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

... ; Hosea 3:4; Zech. 10:2). Terapim are used in divination (Ezek. 21:21; Zech. 10:2). They may be “ancestor figurines used in necromancy” (communication with the dead).1The image is probably not an object of worship, but rather a means of acquiring information. In these chapters Saul prophesies three times. In two instances he seems to exhibit ecstatic behavior. In 10:6 Samuel informs Saul that he will be “changed into a different person” as he prophesies; according to 19:24, Saul “stripped off his ...

417. David Flees to Gath—Again

1 Samuel 27:1-12

Teach the Text

Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

... Achish into thinking he was insane. On this second occasion, David again deceives Achish. After convincing Achish to assign him to a relatively distant outpost, where he can operate free of the king’s scrutiny, David raids the nearby non-Israelite peoples to acquire food and provisions for his men and their families. However, David reports to Achish that he is raiding Judah and its allies (the Kenites), so that the king will think he has transferred his loyalties from his homeland to Achish. To ensure ...

418. Eliphaz

Job 4:1-5:27

Teach the Text

Daniel J. Estes

... 4:21 Are not the cords of their tent pulled up? Eliphaz states that before the holy God humans are as vulnerable as a tent held up by frail cords, or perhaps, by tent pegs. As soon as adversity blows on them, humans are prone to collapse, before they acquire wisdom. Theological Insights The book of Job is often regarded as an example of theodicy, which is the attempt to defend or explain the ways of a good God in light of the existence of evil. At the end of the book, Job is not given an explanation about ...

419. Job Presents Evidence against the Retribution Principle

Job 12:1--14:22

Teach the Text

Daniel J. Estes

... Job and the three friends work within the parameters of traditional wisdom, and there is much on which they agree. For example, they all hold that humans can derive wisdom through the process of observation and that long life should enable a person to acquire extensive wisdom. Job’s point in this question is to indicate to the friends that they have not used the sources of reliable knowledge that are available to them. If they had truly observed life themselves and taken to heart what others before them ...

420. Job Destroys the Friends’ Major Argument

Job 21:1-34

Teach the Text

Daniel J. Estes

... wicked snuffed out? In 18:5–6, Bildad asserted that the light of the wicked goes out. By asking this question, Job now inquires rhetorically if Bildad’s claim is well founded on evidence. Job goes on to use observation, the typical means for acquiring knowledge in traditional wisdom (cf. Prov. 6:6–8), to counter what Bildad has said. Similarly, Zophar in 20:23 contended that God sends his anger against the wicked, so Job asks how often divine calamity actually comes upon sinners. Also, in 5:4 Eliphaz ...

421. Elihu Makes His Appearance

Job 32:1--37:24

Teach the Text

Daniel J. Estes

... further. In verses 21–22, Elihu states that God sees every step that humans take. Consequently, there is nothing that is hidden from the all-knowing God, a truth that Job also affirms (31:4). Unlike a human judge in a trial, God never has to acquire more information than he already possesses before he can make a just decision. Elihu concludes that Job cannot tell God anything that he does not know completely. Therefore, Job’s request for a trial in which he can present his case before God is unnecessary ...

422. Daniel in the Den of Lions

Daniel 6:1-28

Teach the Text

Ronald W. Pierce

... Jewish tradition at that time mandating a number of prayers per day or a direction for prayer—although later Jewish literature attests to both practices (Jdt. 9:1; Mishnah, Berakhot 4:5).1Perhaps this custom developed among the Babylonian exiles, or Daniel acquired it when Persian rule began. If the latter is true, he most likely is using the Persian custom for his own purposes of fidelity to Yahweh, symbolized by his orientation toward Jerusalem. Beginning around 2000 BC, lions were captured and confined ...

423. Freedom!

Romans 6:3-11

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

... home, but American flags were scarce and there was little cloth to be had. So the mother and son took unbleached muslin flour sacks and made the white portions of the flag. Others were dyed red with Indian berries. But blue cloth was almost impossible to acquire. When there seemed no alternative, the mother took her blue wedding dress out of the large wooden trunk she had brought from Norway. And with tears in her eyes, she cut out the blue background for the white stars. Her son cut down a sapling tree ...

424. Jacob in Egypt

Genesis 46:1--47:12

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... knows this territory well and requests that the royal cattle be put under the supervision of one of Joseph’s brothers (47:6). Goshen is identified in verse 11 as the district of Rameses. This must be an editorial note, for the area did not acquire this name until the thirteenth century BC. Jacob’s autobiography is far from positive. He tells Pharaoh: “My years have been few and difficult” (47:9). True, Jacob (147 years) does not live as long as his father (180 years) or his grandfather (175 years ...

425. Birth, Preservation, and Preparation of Moses

Ex 2:1-15

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... his mother nurses him, Moses develops a strong and profound sense of his identity as a Hebrew. In the court of Pharaoh, “Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action” (Acts 7:22). This means acquiring the ability to write, likely access to literary works, and the knowledge of “court etiquette” that would serve him well in the future confrontations with Pharaoh. After Moses kills an Egyptian and it becomes known, he flees to the wilderness of Midian (2 ...

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