Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: touch, feel, sense of touch, tactile sense, tactility, contact, using one's hands, sensation, sense, suspicion, sneaking suspicion, notion, inkling, hunch, fancy, apprehension, presentiment, premonition, foreboding, love, care, affection, fondness, tenderness, warmth, warmness, emotion, sentiment, emotional state, compassion, sympathy, empathy, fellow feeling, understanding, concern, solicitude, solicitousness, tender-heartedness, brotherly love, sensibilities, sensitivities, self-esteem, ego, pride, opinion, belief, view, impression, intuition, instinct, estimation, guess, theory, hypothesis, thought, way of thinking, point of view, atmosphere, ambience, aura, air, mood, climate, character, overtone, undertone, tenor, spirit, quality, flavour, colour, aptitude, knack, flair, bent, talent, gift, skill, art, trick, faculty, ability, propensity, inclination, sensitive, warm, warm-hearted, tender, tender-hearted, caring, soft-hearted, sympathetic, compassionate, empathetic, responsive, receptive, intuitive, thoughtful

Antonyms: bad feeling, acrimony, animosity, animus, antagonism, antipathy, aversion, bitterness, detestation, disgust, dislike, disrelish, enmity, friction, grievances, grudges, hatred, hostility, loathing, malevolence, malice

Showing 4826 to 4850 of 5000 results

4826. Preparations for Building the Temple

1 Kings 5:1-18

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... story for the answer. 5:13–18 It is often overlooked that by verse 13 we have heard nothing more about Hiram’s first counter proposal to Solomon about work methods (v. 9). Yet this issue, picked up now in verses 13–18, is crucial to a proper understanding of the relationship between the two kings as it is presented in 5:1–18. The point is this: the narrative proceeds as if Hiram had said nothing about work methods at all! In spite of his attempt to avoid cooperation of the sort that Solomon sought ...

4827. Solomon Builds His Palace

1 Kings 7:1-12

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... it is being worshiped in. This does not happen until 7:51, when Solomon’s own contribution to the interior is “finished” (Hb. šlm; cf. the additional comment on 9:25). Until this point, the temple is little more than an empty shell. We should understand 7:1, then, in the following way: “But his own house Solomon spent thirteen years building, and he completed the whole of his house!” 7:6–12 The remaining buildings that formed part of the complex are now described. There was a colonnade (“hall ...

4828. Solomon's Prayer of Dedication

1 Kings 8:22-61

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

Solomon’s Prayer: Solomon now turns to address God in a prayer that is of great importance for our understanding of the book of Kings as a whole. After further attention to the link between temple-building and Davidic promise (vv. 22–26), he offers us significant reflections on the nature of God’s “dwelling” in the temple (vv. 27–30; cf. v. 13), followed by a seven-fold petitionary ...

4829. Solomon's Adversaries

1 Kings 11:14-25

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... man” (cf. Mark 14:58; John 2:18–22) but is Christ’s own body. The temple, like Solomon, has been superseded. Precisely because this is the case, however, a knowledge of OT texts about the temple and its worship is important if we are to understand much of what the NT has to say about Christ and his church, particularly in both Hebrews and Revelation, which develop the idea of the heavenly temple that is both prototype of the earthly temple (e.g., Heb. 8:3–5) and its eschatological fulfillment (Rev ...

4830. Ahijah's Prophecy Against Jeroboam

1 Kings 14:1-20

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... :5), but Jeroboam will be harshly deprived of descendants (Hb. ḵrṯ, cut off). This is, of course, why God deals so much more leniently with Solomon (and Rehoboam, as we shall see) than he does with Jeroboam. 14:12–13 It is in this context that we are to understand the reference to Jeroboam’s son. The boy will die. This is a tragedy in any circumstances. Yet in the context of what will happen to all the other males in Jeroboam’s house, his death can be seen as a blessing—for he, at least, will be ...

4831. Abijah King of Judah

1 Kings 15:1-8

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... line. 15:9–15 By contrast with his immediately preceding ancestors, Asa was a good king—someone who did what was right in the eyes of the LORD (v. 11), whose heart was fully committed to the LORD all his life (v. 14). We are to understand by this, not that he was perfect, but that he followed the Davidic pattern and eschewed idolatry. He took action against the shrine prostitutes mentioned in 14:24 (v. 12), “removed” the idols made in previous reigns, and deposed his own idolatrous mother (cf. the ...

4832. Nadab King of Israel

1 Kings 15:25-32

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... of Jeroboam’s family, just as Ahijah had said he would (14:10–11). The house of Jeroboam is no more; the house of Issachar rules (v. 27). 15:33–16:7 We are not told whether Baasha knew about Ahijah’s prophecy. He certainly shows no sign of understanding that it is God who has placed him on the throne. For he, too, walks in the ways of Jeroboam and in his sin, with predictable consequences. A prophet appears—Jehu son of Hanani—to announce that the fate of his house will be the same as Jeroboam ...

4833. Elijah Fed by Ravens

1 Kings 17:1-6

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... of 1 Kgs. 17 still sounding, in Matt. 15:21–28 and Mark 7:24–30 (the healing of the daughter of a Canaanite/Phoenician woman). I have commanded a widow: The widow shows no awareness of having been directly “commanded” by God, and we are perhaps to understand the verb here and in v. 4 (Hb. ṣwh) in a more indirectly causative way (“I have ordained that . . .”). 17:18 To remind me of my sin and kill my son: The Hb. is lit. “to bring to remembrance my sin and kill my son.” In the context ...

4834. Naboth’s Vineyard

1 Kings 21:1-29

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... ’s family. 21:1–3 The occasion for Elijah’s reappearance is a battle over a vineyard. Ahab wants it (v. 2) but Naboth (the owner) refuses to give it up, because it is the inheritance of his fathers (v. 3). It is fundamental to the OT understanding of land that it belonged, not to the families who technically “owned” it, but to God (Lev. 25:23). God had brought Israel into the land in fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise (Gen. 17:8), driving out the previous inhabitants (cf. 1 Kgs. 21:26); and he ...

4835. Moab Revolts

2 Kings 3:1-27

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... , and this is what we now find as Elisha is consulted about a military campaign. Echoes of 1 Kings 22:1–28 are everywhere to be heard, especially in Jehoshaphat’s renewed alliance with the house of Ahab. We must listen to these words intently if we are to understand what is happening in this rather puzzling narrative. 3:1–3 We expect that Jehoram (the NIV’s Joram), as a son of Ahab, will be the one to see God’s judgment falling at last upon Ahab’s house (cf. 1 Kgs. 22:21–24). It is surprising ...

4836. Naaman Healed of Leprosy

2 Kings 5:1-27

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... what is commonly called leprosy today (Hansen’s disease). Given our ignorant state, “skin disease” is a much safer translation in 2 Kgs. 5 (cf. the NIV footnote). What kind of ṣāraʿaṯ Naaman’s disease actually was is, of course, inconsequential in terms of understanding the narrative. Much more important is knowing that ṣāraʿaṯ signified to the Hb. reader ritual uncleanness (Lev. 13–14) and the judgment of God (Num. 12:1–15; 2 Sam. 3:28–29; 2 Kgs. 15:5). Naaman is one who is in ...

4837. Famine in Besieged Samaria

2 Kings 6:24-7:2

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... says that the king “came down” to Elisha and that he spoke the prophecy “to the king.” There is no king in the Hb. text of v. 33, however. The words are certainly his but they are spoken by the messenger he has sent. We are no doubt to understand that the king arrives shortly after his hit man (cf. “footsteps behind him” in v. 32), at which point the prophecy that Elisha has directed to him is reported to him by the messenger, and the conversation in 7:2 ensues. 7:2 The floodgates of the heavens ...

4838. Ahab's Family Killed

2 Kings 10:1-17

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... and the servants of Baal are not, and they die. 10:25 The inner shrine: The Hb. is ʿîr, which normally means “city.” In this context, it presumably refers to some “citylike” aspect of the temple, and that is how we come to have inner shrine. We might equally well understand ʿîr as a walled courtyard of some kind, however, where the bodies were dumped and the “sacred stone” demolished/burned.

4839. Jotham King of Judah

2 Kings 15:32-38

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... us. Additional Notes 16:3 Sacrificed . . . in the fire: The Hb. is heʿebîr bāʾēš. The NIV footnote implies that there is some doubt about the meaning of the phrase. This is true only if one does not allow texts from elsewhere in the OT to inform our understanding of it (e.g., Ezek. 16:20–21; 20:26–31; with Lev. 18:21; Jer. 32:35). See further Day, Molech, esp. pp. 15–28. 16:18 He took away . . . : The Hb. is difficult: “The screen [a unique word in Hb., related to the verb sḵḵ, “to ...

4840. Hezekiah King of Judah

2 Kings 18:1-16

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... 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 c, perhaps thinking of Hb. šiqquṣ, “detested thing,” or šṯn, “to urinate ...

4841. The Book of Law Found

2 Kings 22:1-20

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... his report of diligence in financial matters (v. 9), presents him with the Book of the Law (v. 11), that Josiah really becomes worried (v. 11). Only then does he comprehend just how far short of divine acceptance Judean worship falls (v. 13). It is, of course, quite understandable that a child brought up in a royal court that was apostate for fifty-seven years and subjected all opposition to a reign of terror should not be aware of the LORD’s demands, and he is not blamed for it. As soon as he was aware ...

4842. A Rebellious Nation

Isaiah 1:1-31

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... stand scandalously before Yahweh’s eyes and make it impossible for Yahweh to look at people when they pray (v. 16a). Positively, they are to learn to do right and seek justice (v. 17; and see on v. 21). A paradox appears here, or rather a different understanding of justice. The key principle of justice is not that everyone should be treated the same and in accordance with the law of the land, but that the needy should be protected. It would not count as justice for decisions to be technically legal but to ...

4843. Isaiah’s Commission

Isaiah 6:1-13

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... become unable to realize what God is doing with them. Nevertheless, the words in verses 9 and 10 may be ironic. They constitute a warning of where the people will find themselves unless they respond and turn. Isaiah says Be ever hearing, but never understanding (v. 9), but he does not mean it. His preaching of judgment resembles Jonah’s in Nineveh. It is designed to bring people to their senses, to repentance, and to forgiveness, even though it does not explicitly urge them to repentance and indicate that ...

4844. The Lord's Anger Against Israel

Isaiah 9:8--10:4

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... processes. To put it one way, wickedness sets the world on fire. To put it the other way, Yahweh’s wrath sets the world on fire, passionate in its anger and active in the exercise of Yahweh’s powerful hand. By implication, both models of understanding causation in the world are necessary to grasp how things happen. Events are both logical and “natural” and also personal and felt (see further on 24:5–6). Verses 19b–21 implicitly add another model, for they speak of human activity in a way that ...

4845. God’s Judgment on Assyria

Isaiah 10:5-19

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... –2) disaster does not come to the foreign power merely because of its ill-treatment of Yahweh’s people (vv. 10–11). It assumes that its achievements stem from its own strength and wisdom rather than from something God-given, as if human hands, wisdom, and understanding could produce anything that could stand before Yahweh: contrast 3:3, 11; 5:21 (v. 13a). It behaves as if it is a law unto itself in its control of the destinies of other peoples and in its destructiveness, seeing itself as like a mighty ...

4846. Woe to Ephraim

Isaiah 28:1-29

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... the strange destructive work in which Yahweh is engaged, which parallels the promise regarding Ephraim in verses 5–6. So its message is the obverse of that previous parable in chapter 5. Additional Notes 28:15 “False gods” (NIV mg.) points to a different understanding of v. 15 as a whole. Out of context it might indicate that people had consciously made a covenant with the god Death, worshiped by the Canaanites. The drunken banquets will then have been occasions when they sealed such a covenant. It is ...

4847. Woe to the Obstinate Nation

Isaiah 30:1-33

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... otherwise (e.g., 3:5, for both verbs; also 28:24–28). The manner in which their sentence will be executed also reflects Proverbs’ way of thinking. Indeed, the image of indictment and sentencing disappears. We have noted that Isaiah has several models for understanding God’s activity in the world (see on 9:18–21). Once more what threatens Judah is not some intervention from outside, but rather the “natural” fruit of its own action. “Sin pays a wage, and the wage is death” (Rom. 6:23, NEB ...

4848. Hezekiah's Prayer

Isaiah 37:14-20

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... response parallel to that in verses 1–4, Hezekiah again models how to cope with a crisis. Chapters 28–32 have implied that Hezekiah left a lot to be desired as king, but at least he knows what to do with a threatening message. He understands that prayer involves bringing things to Yahweh’s attention. Arguably this is not merely the beginning of prayer, but the essence of prayer. Showing Yahweh the letter is an act of prayer. Words then follow. The words of his prayer contain five elements. First, they ...

4849. Gods of Babylon

Isaiah 46:1-13

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... that Yahweh alone can give a satisfactory interpretation of the span of world events as a whole (v. 10a) proves this. To put it in contemporary terms, the 540s B.C. in Babylon see a clash of meta-narratives. Two worldviews are confronting each other, two understandings of history as a whole. The prophet’s conviction is not that Babylon’s is true for Babylon and Judah’s for Judah but that Judah’s alone is an adequate meta-narrative within which to look at the little narratives of the day. In relation ...

4850. The Servant of the Lord

Isaiah 49:1-7

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... will also bring about the fulfillment of a second mission. The way in which any minister is engaged in mission is by fulfilling a ministry to the congregation that itself has the task of mission. Admittedly we must be wary of anachronistic understandings of the word “mission,” which another NIV interpretation might encourage. The last line of verse 6 reads more literally “to be my salvation to the ends of the earth” (NRSV has “that my salvation may reach. . . .”). There is no implication here ...

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