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Showing 4401 to 4425 of 4944 results

4401. The Beast from the Sea (Antichrist)

Revelation 13:1b-10

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

Big Idea: Christians are called to faithful endurance when confronted by the beast from the sea, an evil force empowered by the dragon and determined to deceive the world, blaspheme God, and persecute believers. Understanding the Text As we continue through the interlude of 12:1–14:20, chapter 12 closes with Satan standing on the shore of the sea (12:18 in the Greek text but moved to 13:1 by some translations). Chapters 12 and 13 must be seen together. Having been prevented from reaching the woman, the ...

4402. Priesthood Confirmed and Its Mediation Duties Specified

Num 17:1–8:7

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

Big Idea: God confirms his ministers and directs them to protect that which is sacred. Understanding the Text In Numbers 16 Korah challenges the exclusive privilege of priesthood by Aaron and his sons. But in the contest between Aaron and the followers of Korah, God shows Korah to be wrong by sending fire to consume the 250 non-Aaronites who have come to offer incense to God. A challenge also comes from Reubenites, who in sympathy with Korah claim that “the whole community is holy” (Num. 16:3b), not just ...

4403. The Sacrifices of the Sacred Calendar

Num 28:1–29:40

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

Big Idea: People can worship God through the regular cycles of life. Understanding the Text In the desert God prescribes a system of sacred space for Israel (Lev. 1–8), whose people camp around the tabernacle while they travel through the desert (Num. 1–4). Leviticus 23 describes the various sacred times that Israel will commemorate upon entering the land. Now in Numbers 28–29, as the conquest draws near, God reiterates the system of sacrificial worship in conjunction with Israel’s sacred times around ...

4404. Saul Forfeits a Dynasty

1 Samuel 13:1-15

Teach the Text

Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

Big Idea: God’s people can forfeit their privilege and blessing by foolishly disobeying the Lord’s word. Understanding the Text As chapter 12 concludes, one hopes and may even expect that Saul will succeed. After all, empowered by the Lord’s Spirit, he defeated the Ammonites, and the rebellious people responded positively to Samuel’s call to covenantal renewal. Yet there was unfinished business. The Ammonites have been defeated, but the Philistine problem remains. The Lord announced to Samuel that the new ...

4405. The “Nine Lives” of David

1 Samuel 19:1-24

Teach the Text

Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

Big Idea: Whether by divine providence or direct intervention, God is capable of protecting his chosen servants from those who seek to destroy them. Understanding the Text In chapter 18 Saul used different methods to try to kill David on three separate occasions (18:10–11, 17, 25). The pattern continues in chapter 19: (1) Saul orders Jonathan to kill David (19:1), (2) he again throws a spear at David (19:10; cf. 18:10–11), (3) he orders his henchmen to arrest David and bring him to the royal palace for ...

4406. David Listens to the Voice of Wisdom

1 Samuel 25:1-44

Teach the Text

Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

Big Idea: The Lord’s chosen servants should embrace the wisdom that he provides. Understanding the Text Chapter 24 ends with David’s being vindicated as Saul acknowledged David’s innocence, pronounced a blessing upon him, and assured him that he would someday be the king of Israel. However, he did not invite David to return to the royal court; Saul and David went their separate ways (v. 22). As we move to chapter 25, Saul remains backstage for a brief time as the narrator focuses on David’s dealings with ...

4407. “The Lord Looks Down . . . to See If There Are Any Who Understand”

Psalm 14:1-7

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: The world’s God-deniers will find, maybe to their surprise, that the God they deny is found “in the company of the righteous.” Understanding the Text The form of Psalm 14 is sometimes considered to be an individual lament, and in tone, it is, because the psalmist grieves over the vacuum of faith that he perceives in his world. But it does not follow the form of the lament. Others have suggested it is a wisdom psalm, in view of its use of wisdom language. In wisdom terms, the word “fool” stands ...

4408. “Your Love, Lord, Reaches to the Heavens, Your Faithfulness to the Skies”

Psalm 36:1-12

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: The absence of the fear of the Lord that characterizes the wicked is outmatched by the covenant love of the Lord, which encompasses the world, humans and animals alike, and reaches the heavens. Understanding the Text The literary genre of Psalm 36 is a bit elusive. Dahood says it has elements of wisdom in 36:1–4, becomes a hymn in 36:5–10, and then is a lament in 36:11–12. This, of course, is not the only instance when the form-critical method of analyzing the Psalms fails. In Dahood’s words: “ ...

4409. “Be Exalted, O God, above the Heavens; Let Your Glory Be over All the Earth”

Psalm 57:1-11

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: In our deepest conflicts God’s emissaries of love and truth will guide us into safe harbor. Understanding the Text Psalm 57 is generally recognized as an individual lament. Some commentators, including Dahood, also see a royal element, and he calls it a “lament of a king.”1This view is largely based on the title’s association of David with the psalm and the description of persecution that could easily be applied to a national leader. We should also note that the psalm is a prayer with ...

4410. “Endow the King with Your Justice, O God”

Psalm 72:1-20

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: Prayer for the blessing of the nations is also a prayer for the poor and needy of the world. Understanding the Text Psalm 72 is generally classified as a royal psalm. This means its focus is on the king and his kingdom. Some commentators view it as a coronation psalm, which is a little difficult to see because it does not have the same references to the establishment of the kingship as does Psalm 2:7. However, it could have been used in some capacity when Israelite kings were crowned. It is one ...

4411. Nebuchadnezzar’s Judgment and Repentance

Daniel 4:28-37

Teach the Text

Ronald W. Pierce

Big Idea: The sovereignty of God over heaven and earth is demonstrated in the judgment of sin and the restoration of those who genuinely repent. Understanding the Text See the unit on 4:1–18 for a discussion of the larger context, structure, and comparisons of this literary unit. Against this backdrop, 4:28–37 concludes this narrative, and brief statements of time (“twelve months” [4:29] and “at the end of that time” [4:34]) identify its two parts: God’s punishment of Nebuchadnezzar (4:28–33; with ...

4412. The Grace Question: “Are You a Teacher…and Yet Do Not Understand These Things?”

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

There are two actors in this scene of John’s gospel: Jesus and Nicodemus. Nicodemus is not a popular figure in the gospels. He appears only a couple of other times in John’s record. The last picture of him is in John 19. He and Joseph of Arimathea asked for the body of Jesus after He was crucified in order that He might have a decent burial. One of Rembrandt’s most famous etchings portrays that scene. The limp, dead body of Jesus was slowly taken down from the cross. Joseph of Arimathea, dressed as the ...

4413. Cyrus’s Proclamation and Preparation to Return

Ezra 1:1-11

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

The First Mission (1:1–6:22:): The Return of the Jews to Judah · Ezra 1:1–4 provides a general introduction to Ezra-Nehemiah. The first verse sets the pace, beginning with a specific time in history: “In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia” (539 BC). The author purports to give us historical facts. While the book is historical narrative, it does not pretend to give a complete history of the period. Rather, the author selects the material that can best present his message. Immediately the author ...

4414. John Prepares the Way

Matthew 3:1-12

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

3:1–4:16 Review · Matthew moves from narrating the infancy stories to two preparatory events for the ministry of Jesus—his baptism and temptation. Both narratives are set in the wilderness (“desert”), tying Jesus’s preparation for his ministry to the identity of the people of Israel as they prepared to enter the land promised to them. Both stories are also marked by the Spirit, signaling that the time of eschatological promise has begun. John the Baptist is introduced in Matthew 3 as the forerunner who ...

4415. The Jews and the Law

Romans 2:17-29

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Beginning in 2:17, Paul takes up the objections of his Jewish dialogue partner, who argues that Israel’s covenant status places Jews in a different position from that of the Gentiles. Paul insists that the Jewish covenant privileges, which he does not deny (3:1–2; 9:4–5), do not exempt them from God’s judgment. In verses 17–24 Paul evaluates the claim that the Mosaic law constitutes a fundamental advantage of Jews over Gentiles. First, he cites the claims of his Jewish dialogue partner (2:17–20). (1) He ...

4416. Freedom in Christ

Galatians 5:1-15

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

5:1 · Thesis:Grammatically, verse 1 of chapter 5 is related to the previous paragraph, yet it also provides both a summary and a transition point to the letter. While the manuscript evidence varies on points of grammatical connectives, the sense of the statement is not endangered. In fact, this statement provides the thesis for Paul’s insistence on the Galatians’ rejection of the opponents. The NIV’s rendering of the verse into two sentences appears to be quite correct (against the KJV). The first sentence ...

4417. Follow the Example of Paul As He Follows the Example of Christ

Philippians 3:12-4:1

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

3:12–14 · Paul continues to stress the purpose toward which his whole life is oriented. One of the most striking aspects of this account of Paul’s life is that Paul sees “knowing Christ Jesus” (3:8) not only as something in which he already participates but also as a goal he continues to pursue. This double sense of purpose, Christ as both motivation and goal, is explained in these verses: Christ has grasped Paul, so Paul presses on to grasp Christ, the goal of his life. Paul is fully aware that he has not ...

4418. Elephants in the Room: Abuse – I Have a Secret

Matthew 11:28

Sermon

Charley Reeb

True Stories #1: He was one of my best friends in elementary school. We did just about everything together – rode bikes, played cops and robbers, had slumber parties, went to the movies. You name it, we did it. He had a younger brother and an older sister. They were all adopted and came from different biological families. They seemed to be happy with their adoptive parents. They lived in a nice home and attended a very good school in suburban Atlanta. They were provided for in every way. One day one of the ...

4419. Clean and Unclean

Mark 7:1-23

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

7:1–13 Although the NIV presents 7:1–13 as a separate unit, it is important to note that the discussion about Jewish traditional ideas of “clean” and “unclean,” begun in 7:1–13, continues in 7:14–23. Moreover, this topic sets the stage for the episode in 7:24–30, where Jesus deals with a gentile woman’s request for his ministry. The preceding summary passage (6:53–56) is thus a transitional point, and in chapter 7 we should recognize the beginning of a new section in Mark’s narrative. The Pharisees (last ...

4420. The Resurrection

Mark 16:1-20

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

16:1–8 The resurrection of Jesus was the single most important event in the formation of faith in Jesus in the early church. The resurrection not only overturned the effects of the crucifixion, giving life where there was death, but more importantly, signified that Jesus had been vindicated by God and made the prince and pioneer of salvation for anyone believing in him. In 1 Corinthians 15:12–28, Paul gives a concise description of the meaning of Jesus’ resurrection, portraying the risen Jesus as the basis ...

4421. Love

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

These verses are often referred to as an excursus on love, and there are good reasons for this description. Remarkably, in this extended meditation on love Paul does not write about loving: there is no statement here that X loves Y. Love itself is the actor or the object of reflection. This beautiful passage never attempts to offer an abstract definition of love; rather, Paul rehearses critical characteristics of love and states in practical terms what love is and isn’t or does and doesn’t do. The verses ...

4422. Samuel's Farewell Speech

1 Samuel 12:1-25

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

Samuel Addresses the People: Using speeches like this one of Samuel’s to indicate important staging points, such as the end of the age of the judges, is common in the so-called Deuteronomic History. There are particular parallels here with the way in which Moses hands over power to Joshua and with Joshua’s final speech (Deut. 31; Josh. 23). This speech is included because it makes points of which the reader is expected to take note. Whether it records Samuel’s words or is a later composition does not ...

4423. David and Bathsheba

2 Samuel 11:1-27

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

David and Bathsheba: The mopping-up operation to complete the siege of the Syrian capital Rabbah is described in 11:1, but the completion is not recorded until 12:26–31. In between is the story of David’s involvement in adultery, betrayal, and murder. 11:1 The writers make it clear that David’s presence in Jerusalem at this time was unusual. The fighting season has begun, but at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab. That is, he did not go himself, and the verse stresses that while the army ...

4424. A Prophecy Against Assyria

Isaiah 14:24-27

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

Poems about Northern Powers: Introduction to Chapters 13–23: Chapter 12 would have made a fine ending to a book, and perhaps it once did. Isaiah has warned Judah of calamity to come, then looked at the other side of trouble to the punishment of the troublers themselves and to the fulfillment of Yahweh’s purpose for Israel “in that day.” Isaiah 13 then marks a new start. The word oracle announces something new; this distinctive title will introduce most of the sections within this next major division of the ...

4425. His Name Is John

Luke 1:57-66, 80

Sermon

King Duncan

It is one of life’s ironies, isn’t it? Some couples have unexpected and even unwanted pregnancies. Other couples who are totally unfit to be parents also have no difficulty breeding. Then there are those couples who have so much love to give that they would probably make wonderful parents, but are denied the opportunity. Not everyone in our society wants to be a parent. That’s okay. No one should ever be made to feel unworthy because they make this choice. But there are some couples who want desperately to ...

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