Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 676 to 700 of 832 results

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... heavenly council that is witnessed in several texts (1 Kgs. 22:19–22; Job 1:6–12). God considered making humans in God’s image and likeness. Image (tselem) and likeness (demut) are used in similar ways in the OT. “Image” refers to a copy or a close representation (it is also used infrequently for an idol; Num. 33:52; Ezek. 7:20; 16:17). “Likeness” emphasizes the comparison of one object with another or the correspondence between two objects. Each word tempers the other. The use of two terms ...

677. Athaliah and Joash

2 Kings 11:1-21

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... . What is quite clear is that sufficient security is provided for the ceremony to take place within the temple precincts. Troops surround the entrance, as Joash is brought out, is crowned, is presented with a list of divinely-ordained laws (Hb. ʿēḏûṯ; the NIV’s a copy of the covenant; cf. 1 Kgs. 2:3; 2 Kgs. 17:15; 23:3; and note Deut. 17:18–20), is anointed, and is acclaimed (v. 12). Athaliah, rushing from her unguarded palace to the temple precincts to find out what is happening, discovers the ...

678. A Prophecy Against Babylon

Isaiah 21:1-10

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... look nicer, or a practical task, to make arrows slide off them. 21:8 In Hb. the lookout (though actually a different word from that in v. 6) is very similar to a lion (NIV mg.). The latter makes poor sense here and probably came about as an error in copying by a scribe. Many commentators assume that the lookout is the prophet himself, on the walls of Jerusalem, and that the army in v. 9a is attacking Babylon, but this confuses the picture.

679. Distress and Help

Isaiah 33:1-24

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

Oh You Destroyer Who Has Not Been Destroyed: We noted in the Introduction that the major copy of Isaiah from Cave 1 at Qumran leaves a space after chapter 33, and this chapter indeed closes off the first half of the book. It does this quantitatively, because we are fairly precisely half way through the book. It also does it thematically and verbally. At one level chapter ...

680. Ezekiel's Call

Ezekiel 1:1-28, Ezekiel 2:1-3:15, Ezekiel 3:16-27

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... of part-human, part-animal heavenly beings from ancient Near Eastern art influenced Ezekiel. Still, such images cannot quite express or contain the reality of the vision. The Hebrew text of Ezekiel 1 is difficult—partly because scribes copying this vision had trouble visualizing what the prophet was describing, but mostly because Ezekiel himself found it difficult to communicate his experience. The language is awkward and uncertain, punctuated by qualifying statements: “what looked like,” “what ...

681. Signs, Sayings, and Oracles of Judgment

Ezekiel 12:1-28, Ezekiel 13:1-23, Ezekiel 14:1-11, Ezekiel 14:12-23

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... to figure out exactly what the female prophets in this passage are doing. In part, this is because the text is confusing, with odd variations in spelling and grammar. This confusion may reflect the perplexity of the scribes, who were trying to copy a description of rituals they did not understand (compare the extremely problematic state of the vision report in Ezekiel 1). The terms Ezekiel uses for the activities of the women present further difficulty for the interpreter—some of them appear only here ...

682. Jesus Begins His Ministry to Israel

Matthew 4:23-25, Matthew 4:18-22

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... pattern that allows the maker or others to duplicate this unique piece. But suppose someone chose to try to replicate this designer’s dress without a pattern. Suppose this person obtained one of the reproductions and then crafted the dress by looking at the copy without using the pattern itself. It is very likely that the reproduction would fall short of the dress as it was first created. Following the pattern of the original is a much better way of creating the closest reproduction of the original. This ...

683. The Disciples Confess Jesus as the Messiah

Matthew 16:1-4, Matthew 16:5-12, Matthew 16:13-20

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... 16:2–3 When evening comes . . . signs of the times. Some early Greek manuscripts do not include these verses, beginning with “When evening comes.” It is likely that this description of weather, which fits the region of Palestine, was omitted by scribes copying the text in other areas of the Mediterranean world, where the particulars of a red sky and what it signaled made less sense. In other words, 16:2–3 are quite possibly original to Matthew, since their omission is explained by their regional ...

684. The Jewish Leaders as Negative Foil for Jesus’ Followers

Matthew 23:1-39

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... . According to Powell, it is this role as those who read the Scriptures in synagogue worship that Jesus affirms.1“Jesus may be simply acknowledging the powerful social and religious position that [these leaders] occupy in a world where most people are illiterate and copies of the Torah are not plentiful.”2 23:3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. This exhortation stems from the place of authority or access that the Jewish leaders occupy (see discussion above on 23:2). As they read ...

685. Eschatological Discourse: Being Prepared for Jesus’ Return

Matthew 24:36-51, Matthew 25:1-13

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... will highlight the way to be prepared: faithful and merciful living. Interpretive Insights 24:36 nor the Son. This phrase is not included in some Greek manuscripts. Yet it is very likely original to Matthew, since it is easy to understand how early Christian scribes copying Matthew might have found these words troubling (showing Jesus to lack knowledge of the timing of his own return) and omitted them. 24:37 so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. The word for “coming” here is parousia and ...

686. Jesus Is Tried before Pilate and Sentenced to Death

Matthew 27:1-10, Matthew 27:11-26

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... of Roman officials deferring to local customs in regard to leniency.1 27:17 Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah? Some manuscripts include the name “Jesus” before the surname “Barabbas”; others do not. Given a clear disposition by Christian scribes copying the New Testament to hold Jesus’ name in reverence, it is easy to understand how they might omit that name when used to refer to a criminal. It is less discernible why some scribes might add the name if it was not originally in ...

687. Jesus’s Ministry and Popularity Continue to Grow

Mark 1:40-45, Mark 1:35-39, Mark 1:29-34

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... Lev. 13:45–46). 1:41 Jesus was indignant. The majority of the Greek manuscripts as well as quite a few versions (NRSV, NIV [1984], ESV, NLT, NET) have something like “moved with pity/compassion.” However, it is easier to see later scribes copying Mark to replace “indignant” with “compassion,” a much more amenable idea for this context. Therefore, it is slightly better to follow the reading here (so also REB).4Why would Jesus be angry? It is very unlikely that Jesus was unhappy with the man ...

688. The Gentiles Are Included in God’s Provision

Mark 8:1-13

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... the “yeast,” or spreading evil, of the Pharisees. Interpretive Insights 8:1 another large crowd. So many details are the same as the account of the other feeding miracle (6:31–44) that many critical scholars are convinced this is a “doublet” or copy of the earlier story. Certainly there are many similarities, and one wonders why, if the disciples have already seen Jesus do such a feeding once, they are still so incredulous in verse 4. At the same time, there is little reason to believe that ...

689. Family in the New Kingdom Community

Mark 10:13-16, Mark 10:1-12

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... primarily to those who become like children, who model the sense of vulnerability, trust, dependence, and openness to Jesus’s truths that denotes true discipleship. Children (at least younger ones) receive parental guidance without questioning and with simple obedience. In fact, they copy the actions of their parents. 10:16 he took the children in his arms. The people simply wanted a blessing. Jesus did much more, and these actions are in a sense a prophetic acted parable (like Jeremiah or Ezekiel)4 to ...

690. The Arrest of Jesus

Mark 14:43-52

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... . Biography: In 1969 Chuck Colson was appointed as special counsel to President Richard Nixon. During his time in the White House Colson was caught up in the Watergate scandal. As Colson was facing arrest for obstructing justice, his friend Thomas Phillips gave him a copy of C. S. Lewis’s book Mere Christianity. After reading the book, Colson was converted to Christ. He would still go to prison, but God would use this broken man. Colson went on to found Prison Fellowship, the world’s largest family of ...

691. The Commissioning of the Disciples

Luke 24:50-53, Luke 24:36-49

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... of a stainless replacement. Explain that the mild-steel version is prone to decay and rot from oxidation. No matter how effectively it performs its assigned task, it will eventually be ruined and discarded. One can’t replace it with a plastic copy, a photograph, or a hologram—those things might not rust, but they wouldn’t perform the same tasks as steel. The stainless steel item, however, has the same substantial weight and strength of its mild-steel counterpart, but without the tendency to decay ...

692. The Gospel of God in Christ through Paul

Romans 1:1-17

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

... ), and ultimately in Spain (1:11–12). I also suggest that 1:8–15 continues the “preamble” section of the covenant structure that began with 1:1. Historical and Cultural Background An ancient map of the Roman Empire preserved in a thirteenth-century copy known as the Tabula Peutingeriana reveals the eschatological genius behind Paul’s plan to visit Spain for the purpose of preaching the gospel. That map shows that the ancients believed that Illyricum was a key stopping point on the way to Rome and ...

693. Paul, Phoebe, Patronage, and Spain

Romans 16:1-27

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

... women functioned as patrons in the Roman world.7 It is clear from this that Phoebe acted as patron for Paul and for others as well (16:2b). Most likely, Phoebe helped Paul at the very least by paying Tertius, Paul’s professional scribe (16:22), to copy the letter to the Romans, travel to Rome, and read it to them, with Phoebe’s presence at the reading as Paul’s imprimatur on the occasion. More specifically, Phoebe’s task of delivering the letter of Romans and having it read was intended to garner ...

694. Christian Success and Christlikeness

1 Corinthians 4:1-21

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

... middle ranks. This is where participants are looking up to the teacher and advanced students above as well as modeling skills to less-developed initiates below. These middle ranks exemplify the calling and dual responsibility we have as Christians to look up to and copy Christ as well as to represent him accurately to others looking up to us. We all help one another in this way, since we need a vision of the ultimate goal (Christ), examples of others who are quite advanced (seasoned saints), peers who are ...

695. The Revelation of Jesus Christ

Revelation 1:1-3

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... (2) on those who gather to listen to its message and obey what they hear. In the first century, most people (as high as 85 percent of the general populace) were illiterate. Also, we tend to forget that the early Christians did not own a private copy of the Scriptures. As a result, the public reading of Scripture during worship gatherings became a priority (e.g., Col. 4:16; 1 Thess. 5:27; 1 Tim. 4:13). Interestingly, John expects this prophecy to be obeyed, emphasizing the nature of the book as proclamation ...

696. The Vision of the Great Prostitute

Revelation 17:1-18

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... message since the two are usually linked in some way. If we really want to impact the world, we should not simply imitate worldly strategies and tactics. We need strategies that are biblically sound as well as imaginative and creative. God’s people shouldn’t settle for copying the world. 2. What’s so bad about Babylon? When we come to the lists of goods consumed by Babylon in Revelation 18, it will sound eerily familiar to many who have grown up in the West. We may be tempted to ask, what’s so bad ...

697. The New Heaven and New Earth

Revelation 21:1-27

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... : the Lord is there” (Ezek. 48:35). The cube-shaped holy of holies has expanded as God and the Lamb fill the new creation with their presence. When God is fully and finally present among his people, there is no need for a physical temple. The copy has given way to the original. God’s people will not only observe his Shekinah glory from a distance; they will experience his glorious presence. The ninth and final use of the title “Almighty” (pantokrat?r) emphasizes God’s sovereign power (1:8; 4:8; 11 ...

698. The Ordination of Aaron and His Sons

Leviticus 8:1-36

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... burning the fat on God’s altar and sprinkling the blood of animal sacrifices before God on behalf of the people (Lev. 1–6). They receive gifts dedicated to God from the people (2 Chron. 34:9). They also mediate revelation from God to the people. They keep the official copy of the law and teach it to the people (Deut. 17:18; 31:9–13; 2 Chron. 15:3; Jer. 18:18; Ezek. 7:26; Hag. 2:11; Mal. 2:7). They pronounce God’s blessing on the people (Num. 6:23–27; Deut. 21:9). The high priest keeps ...

699. Preparations for Worship (Part 1)

Numbers 7:1-89

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... the Akkadian cognate adu, which refers to a type of formal agreement.11In that case, the “ark of the ‘edut” is a synonym for “ark of the covenant [berit].” This alternative view seems more likely than the traditional view. Either way, the expression alludes to the copy of the Decalogue that is in the ark (Deut. 10:5; 1 Kings 8:9), which symbolizes or testifies to the covenant God made with Israel at Horeb/Sinai. It is because of God’s covenant relationship with Israel that he has given them the ...

700. “In the Lord I Take Refuge”

Psalm 11:1-7

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... is illustrated by a story from the former Soviet Union of how malignant words were turned into God’s word: Some time ago a story was circulated that Christians in the former Soviet Union were without proper printing equipment to produce copies of the Bible. Resourcefully, they collected as much printed Communist literature as they could obtain. Taking those printed texts, they cut out each word and pasted them back together to produce a printed Bible. Originally, these same words, when configured within ...

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