Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4551 to 4575 of 4963 results

4551. Fear the Lord

Deuteronomy 10:12-22

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... and the additional phrase, that Yahweh feeds and clothes the alien, undoubtedly echoes that particular token of his loving grace experienced by Israel in the wilderness (8:3–4). Granted all the redemptive, covenantal uniqueness of Yahweh’s action on Israel’s behalf, it remains true that what Yahweh did for them was, quite simply, typical of him. Yahweh is the God who loves the aliens and feeds and clothes them. When the Israelites were the aliens in Egypt (v. 19b), God provided for them. Once again we ...

4552. The Only Place of Worship

Deuteronomy 12:1-32

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... whom God loves can be acceptable to God—a point that the prophets expressed negatively with such damning ferocity and that the early church expressed positively in the social care associated with their worship (Acts 2:44–46; 4:32–37). 12:13–28 The remaining section of the chapter, which again comes to us in two fairly parallel parts, 13–19 and 20–28, deals with the matter of “profane slaughter.” It is related to Leviticus 17, which in its context had dealt with how the Israelites were to ...

4553. Worshipping Other Gods

Deuteronomy 13:1-18

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... executed on the very place where God’s name would dwell, and that not by Israelites carrying out covenant justice, but by a pagan nation acting on God’s behalf. The only difference would be that a “remnant” would return, and it would not remain a ruin for ever, never to be rebuilt. Contemplating the severity of a chapter like this, one’s first reaction may be gratitude that we no longer live under the sanctions of a theocratic state in which apostasy threatens the constitution and survival of ...

4554. Passover

Deuteronomy 16:1-8

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... . They were thus in the same position as other classes of dependent people frequently commended to the generosity of Israelite households. So the command of verse 10b that the worshipper’s giving should be in proportion to God’s blessing was (and remains) a vital principle. It clearly echoes 15:14b and illustrates in the most practical way possible the fundamental Deuteronomic principle that all our “doing” should be grateful and obedient response to the prior blessing of God. As in chapter 12, we ...

4555. Going to War

Deuteronomy 20:1-20

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... recent ecological war crimes of our day. When we allow ourselves, then, to see past the slaughter of the Canaanites as a moral stumbling block to the other features of Deuteronomy’s rules of war, we can hardly remain unimpressed. Without a Geneva Convention, Deuteronomy advocates humane exemptions from combat; requires prior negotiation; prefers nonviolence; limits the treatment of subject populations; allows for execution of male combatants only; demands humane and dignified treatment of female captives ...

4556. Renewal of the Covenant

Deuteronomy 29:1-29

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... things revealed, namely, God’s known law that can be obeyed. If, on the other hand, the verse is linked to what follows, and especially to 30:11–14, then it is part of the affirmation that God’s law is clear and accessible. There may be much that remains hidden from our understanding (a characteristic Wisdom viewpoint), but God has revealed all that is needed for us to know and obey God. The verse then takes its place among many that bear on a biblical doctrine of revelation in relation to ethics.

4557. Moses to Die on Mount Nebo

Deuteronomy 32:48-52

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

The Last Mountain: The Blessing and Death of Moses · The speeches have been made, the sermon has been preached, the song has been sung. All that remains is for Moses to bid farewell and leave the stage, which he does in typical fashion (typical of him, and typical in another sense of his great successor), by climbing a mountain. Just before the final ascent, however, comes his parting blessing on the tribes of Israel. There is something ...

4558. A Wise Ruling

1 Kings 3:16-28

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... story. Solomon has already entered an improper relationship with a foreign nation (3:1) and will enter several more (11:1–2). This in due course leads to idolatrous worship (11:7–8). For the moment, however, he is on honeymoon with his new wife, Wisdom, and remains faithful to her. He will thus have no difficulty in seeing through the words spoken to him by the two women who stand before him. He will be able to “discern” (Hb. byn, 3:9, 11–12) in the midst of their testimony what is actually true ...

4559. Solomon Builds the Temple

1 Kings 6:1-38

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... . 6:36–38 Having quickly toured the interior of the temple and passed through the “two pine doors” that stand at its entrance, we discover ourselves once more outside, in the inner courtyard (v. 36) that stands before it. The description is complete; there remains only to hear from our guide that the building took seven years to complete (vv. 37–38)—or more precisely, seven years and six months, given that Ziv is the second month (April-May) and Bul the eighth month (October-November) of the ...

4560. The Ark Brought to the Temple

1 Kings 8:1-21

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

The Ark Brought to the Temple: The ark of God, the great symbol of the LORD’s presence with the people and the receptacle for the tablets of the law (Exod. 25:10–22; Deut. 10:1–5; Josh. 3–6), had hitherto remained in a tent sanctuary somewhere in the old city of David (2 Sam. 6:16–17; 7:2; 1 Kgs. 3:15)—except for the brief trip described in 2 Samuel 15:24–29. First Kings 8:1–21 recounts the circumstances of its relocation and Solomon’s speech about ...

4561. Golden Calves at Bethel and Dan

1 Kings 12:25-33

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... (e.g., 15:26, 34) as Israel’s characteristic sin that leads eventually to exile in a foreign land (2 Kgs. 17:20–23). 12:25–30 The first task undertaken by Jeroboam is the obvious one of defence (v. 25). He evidently does not trust Rehoboam to remain in Jerusalem very long. In fact, he does not seem to trust anyone. He is not convinced, in spite of the events of 12:1–20, that his newfound subjects have really given him their total commitment and would not kill him if circumstances demanded it (v. 27 ...

4562. Abijah King of Judah

1 Kings 15:1-8

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

Abijam and Asa: We remain for the moment in Judah, with Rehoboam’s immediate successors. Abijam is the characteristically bad Judean king, indulging in the idolatry of Solomon’s later years and of Rehoboam. Asa is the characteristically good Judean king, behaving relatively faithfully like David and the younger Solomon. These two between them set ...

4563. Moab Revolts

2 Kings 3:1-27

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... role as Elijah’s servant is plausible. The context in which Elisha’s association with water is mentioned is, however, one of a water shortage. Is there perhaps an allusion here, therefore, to a water-miracle that Elisha is known to have performed but that remains unrecorded in Kings? 3:15 Bring me a harpist: The implication is that music plays its part in Elisha’s attainment of the prophetic “state” in which he utters his prophecy (cf. the discussion on 1 Kgs. 18:25–29; and note particularly the ...

4564. Naaman Healed of Leprosy

2 Kings 5:1-27

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... delivered by the living LORD, at a distance from the prophet. It is the directness of God’s action that has convinced Naaman of God’s reality—and it was necessary to take him to the Jordan if he was to experience that directness. Ambiguity would have remained, had Elisha been involved. The lesson learned, Elisha is keen to drive it home. He refuses to accept any gift; for that is to trade in Naaman’s old currency. It is the living LORD, and not Elisha, who must take center stage. Naaman’s response ...

4565. Famine in Besieged Samaria

2 Kings 6:24-7:2

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... s skepticism that such an economic recovery could happen overnight, in the aftermath of such a terrible siege. Where will the sudden abundance come from? What Elisha prophecies is inconceivable, yet his words seem to be sufficient to deflect the king’s anger. His head remains on his shoulders (cf. 6:31). The king’s officer, however, is not allowed to leave without a further word about his own fate (v. 2). What is possible for God cannot be measured in terms of what is conceivable to mortals. The officer ...

4566. The Shunammite's Land Restored

2 Kings 8:1-6

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... that of his northern namesake, who was ultimately unable to subdue Moab (2 Kgs. 3). It is worse, in fact; his only “victory” is to escape by night from an Edomite ambush (see the additional note on verse 21). The “empire” that remains to Israel is gradually contracting. Even cities within Judah itself are showing signs of unrest (cf. Libnah, v. 22—a city southwest of Jerusalem, near the Philistine border). 8:25–29 Ahaziah—like his father, Jehoram—has habits of religion that match those ...

4567. Jehu Anointed King of Israel

2 Kings 9:1-13

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... that these are his soldiers. He is not fearful for his own safety, only anxious to discover what is going on. Has disaster overtaken Ramoth Gilead? Is this “multitude” (“rabble”?—šipʿâ in v. 17 is not the normal Hb. word for troops) all that remains of his army? Jehu’s response reveals the superficiality of Jehoram’s grasp of reality. The NIV’s idolatry is lit. “prostitution” (Hb. zenûnîm, also linked with witchcraft, Hb. kešāpîm, in Nah. 3:4), a term associated with fertility ...

4568. The Sign of Immanuel

Isaiah 7:1-25

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... top to toe, a synecdoche for the grief and humiliation of defeat and exile (see 3:17; 2 Sam. 10:4–5; 2 Kgs. 2:23; Jer. 41:5). Ahaz hired his own demon barber in allying with Assyria. The next picture is of the few people left (or who remain, v. 22, again the same verb as in 1:8–9) who will be reduced to subsistence farming. But they at least will be able to keep themselves alive with abundance of milk, curds, and honey (vv. 21–22). The fourth and final picture of calamity describes the best vineyards ...

4569. A Prophecy Against Babylon

Isaiah 13:1--14:23

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... in their land is to take up the language of Joshua: the occupation of the land will be repeated. To say that aliens will join them is to say that this occupation will be better than that one, for then aliens were banned. The fact that their land remains the LORD’s land takes the edge off the nationalism of verse 2 and issues the reminder that land cannot really belong to people and be bought and sold by them. It is a theological impossibility. 14:3–23 At last the links are explicit: Babylon’s downfall ...

4570. A Prophecy Against Babylon

Isaiah 21:1-10

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

21:1–10 This cryptic poem about the Desert by the Sea forms a small-scale parallel to 13:1–14:23. First, it concerns the fall of Babylon, although this is not made explicit until near the end. The hearers thus remain in suspense. Second, it relates both to the situation of Isaiah’s day, when Babylon was one of the powers encouraging the assertion of independence over against Assyria, and to the later context of Isaiah 40–55 when Babylon was about to fall to Persia. Third, the vision once again ...

4571. Woe to Ephraim

Isaiah 28:1-29

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... Jerusalem. The difference is that much of these chapters relates to a subsequent period, the reign of Hezekiah and the period of his seeking help from Egypt in asserting freedom from Assyrian domination in 705–701 B.C. The fundamental issues in Judah’s life remain as they were a few years earlier. Centrally, the question is whether the people will live by trust in the promise of God regarding king and city, treating these as the key to their security and freedom, or whether they will insist on seeking ...

4572. Woe to David’s City

Isaiah 29:1-24

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... They sing the right choruses but their minds are much too small to encompass God. As usual, the “heart” stands for the capacity to think and make decisions (see 6:10; 7:2, 4; 9:9; 10:12). They learn these choruses from good human teachers, but they remain only choruses on their lips, even if they re-used Bible verses (v. 13). So God will blow their little theologies wide open (v. 14). This takes us again to God’s “wonders” that demonstrate real wisdom. If the words of 28:29 implied that there is a ...

4573. Distress and Help

Isaiah 33:1-24

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... (e.g., 8:1–4) and about its fruit harvest (32:10). Now the nations are warned that their plunder (see on v. 23) will be harvested (the latter word occurs only once more in the entire OT). The nations had been warned about their thirst remaining unsatisfied, and Judah had been warned about not satisfying the thirsty (29:8; 32:6). The reference to when people pounce uses a similar word to the word for “thirsty,” though with a different meaning. 33:5–6 Yahweh is now confessed rather than addressed ...

4574. Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem

Isaiah 36:1-22

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... . Different accounts, therefore, can be illuminating in their selectivity for different audiences in different situations with different needs. 36:1–3 Sennacherib begins his campaign by achieving the easy targets. Lachish is actually the most impressive of these lesser cities. Its remains form a huge mound or “tell” in the lower hills near the coastal plain to the southeast of Jerusalem. It is thus nearer than Jerusalem is to the route down the coast that an army would take. From there he sent ...

4575. Comfort for God's People

Isaiah 40:1-31

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... the rulers. In the last decade of Judah’s independent history, fifty years previously, Babylon had deposed and transported first one and then another Judean king, Jehoiachin then Zedekiah. They and their offspring, the theoretical heirs to David’s throne, remained under house arrest in Babylon. Babylonian emperors ruled the world. The Poet asks whether the audience really believes that. Doesn’t Yahweh as creator rule the world? That puts Babylonian rulers in their places as firmly as they themselves ...

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