Sermon and Worship Resources

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Ezra 3:1-6

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... Petersen, Haggai and Zechariah 1–8 [OTL; Philadelphia: Westminster, 1984], pp. 240–42, with reference to Zech. 4:7). 3:11 This snatch of hymn also occurs in 1 Chr. 16:41; 2 Chr. 5:13; 7:3, 6. Psalm 107, in its present redacted form, is an illustration of the later hymnic usage: see Leslie Allen, Psalms 101–150 (WBC; Waco: Word, 1983), pp. 60–65. 3:12 This temple: The NIV, along with the REB and NJPS, has wisely ignored the phrasing indicated by the accentuation of the MT. The NRSV has made an effort ...

677. The List of the Exiles Who Returned

Nehemiah 7:4-73a

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... (Ant. 11:18) claims that he did so at his own expense, as part of the repopulation program. 7:7 The men of Israel: The lay immigrants who later returned with Ezra (Ezra 8:3–14) belonged to some of the same clans mentioned in the following verses. This fact illustrates the continuing validity of the old list. 7:68 This verse is restored from Ezra 2:66. It fell out of the MT because of the numeral “200” in the Heb. of v. 67. A copyist’s eye slipped to the same word seven words later. In light of Ezra ...

678. The Agreement of the People

Neh 9:38–10:39

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... list of names interrupts the introductory sentence in 9:38 and 10:28–29 and gives a different order for the three groups than that in 9:38. It was not part of the pledge itself but a separate document that the editor inserted to illustrate the groups in 9:38. 10:28–29 The rest of the people was originally the sequel to the civil leaders and religious representatives mentioned in 9:38. The editor has enumerated different groups to emphasize the comprehensiveness of those who committed themselves to the ...

679. Nehemiah's Final Reforms

Nehemiah 13:1-31

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... of aliens from the religious community. This guideline was intended as the fulfillment of the pledge against intermarriage, itself based on Deuteronomy 7:3, in 10:30. The mixed marriages in 13:23–27 and the Tobiah story in 13:4–9 will illustrate this further. 13:4–9 Here Nehemiah carries out the first of a series of religious reforms during his second administration. The issue for the editor was not that the guidelines were broken, but that they needed to be rigorously reinstated. The general ...

680. Purim Celebrated

Esther 9:20-32

Understanding Series

Timothy S. Laniak

... the pur . As fate would have it, Haman’s plot was found out and the evil scheme Haman had devised against the Jews [came] “back onto his own head” (v. 25). This is the clearest statement (along with 9:1) of the proverbial maxim that the story illustrates: people are caught in the traps they set for others (Pss. 33:10; 94:11; Prov. 19:21). As already noted, this is not simply an empirical observation but a principle of a divinely ordered history. The Jews accepted Mordecai’s letter and the Jews took ...

681. The Proverbs of Solomon

Proverbs 10:1-32

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

... of 10:1 and it applies to the collection in 10:1–22:16 a total of 375 proverbs (375 is the numerical equivalent of the Hebrew name šlmh, or Solomon). The breadth and meaning of m e šālîm, or proverbs, is illustrated particularly in the following collections that are mainly one-line sayings. This is in contrast to the lengthy wisdom poems that characterize chapters 1–9. On the nature and style of the proverbial sayings, see the introduction above. Antithetic parallelism is conspicuous in chapters ...

682. Proverbs of Solomon

Proverbs 17:1-28

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

... ḥ (“sacrifice”), but this may have been gradually lost. The contrast is extreme—sheer bread and sumptuous feast. (See also Amenemope 9.7–8=16.13–14; ANET, pp. 422–23.) 17:2 Synthetic. Although there were rules for inheritance (Deut. 21:15–17), instances illustrated by this saying could occur. See 27:18, and also Ben Sira’s advice about servants in Sirach 7:20–21. 17:3 This verse is a “priamel,” a poetic form in which all objects share a common concept. Here “testing” is common to ...

683. A Linen Belt

Jeremiah 13:1-11

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... Jeremiah is a priest (or the son of a priest) and priests wear linen undergarments. “Belt” may be a misleading translation anyway (see Additional Notes). What is clear is that this garment is worn around the waist tightly and touches the skin. This position illustrates the original relationship that the people enjoyed with God (v. 11). Jeremiah is to buy the linen belt, put it on, but then not let water touch it.The latter probably signifies washing; in other words, Jeremiah is to put on the linen belt ...

684. At the Potter's House

Jeremiah 18:1--19:15, Jeremiah 20:1-6

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... Such an expression depicts a hopeless state of terror where survival itself is threatened” (NIDOTTE, vol. 1, p. 840). This encompassing horror will not only be the experience of Pashhur, but of all of Judah. Pashhur thus embodies the sins and will illustrate the punishments that come on the land of Judah as a whole. This oracle is significant because it is the first specification of Babylon as the instrument of God’s judgment. Elsewhere permutations like “foe from the north” are used. Additional ...

685. The Cup of God's Wrath

Jeremiah 25:15-38

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... that will destroy them. Even if they don’t agree to drink the cup, they must. In other words, whether they drink it or not the judgment is coming on them. This ritual is not a magical act that effectuates the punishment, but rather a prophetic illustration of what is surely coming on these people. The divine reasoning of verses 28–29 may be summarized as follows: if God judges his own people for their sin, how can the other nations that surround Judah escape punishment? They cannot. They will all feel ...

686. Israel Unrepentant

Hosea 6:1--7:16

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... same as that translated “marauders” in 6:9. The thought is remarkably similar to Jeremiah 2:26, where kings, princes, priests (RSV), and prophets are also likened to thieves. Israel’s Efforts to Save Herself (7:3-7): 7:3–7 These verses are an illustration from the political realm of Israel’s evil deeds mentioned in 7:2. Indeed, the same word is repeated in 7:3a to tie the two passages together, but the NIV has obscured that fact by translating the word as wickedness instead of repeating “evil ...

687. The Lord’s Anger Against Nineveh

Nahum 1:1-15

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... all this more explicit. Nahum’s words are taken up in Isaiah 52:1, 7–10 (v. 4 there also refers to Assyria; and see also 40:9–11). That prophecy addresses the Judeans just before the fall of Babylon and the release of the Judeans from exile, illustrating the principle that Nahum’s words do not relate merely to the single event of the fall of Nineveh. Additional Notes 1:1 Oracle: massaʾ can also mean “burden” and Jer. 23:33–38 plays with the word’s double meaning, but in general the use of ...

688. Staying Close to Christ

John 13:31-38

Sermon

King Duncan

... .” 1. Carl Crouse, http://sumasacchurch.weebly.com/sermons/category/a%20front%20row%20seat. 2. Wayne Brouwer, Wedding Homilies (Seven Worlds). 3. Laura Schaefer, Man With Farm Seeks Woman With Tractor (Thunder’s Mouth Press). Cited in Reader’s Digest, September 2005, p. 115. 4. Martin Dale, http://www.sermoncentral.com/illustrations/sermon-illustration-revd-martin-dale-stories-59492.asp 5. The Rev. Dr. J. Bennett Guess, http://day1.org/529-follow_follow_follow.

689. The Last Day of the Feast

John 7:45--8:11, John 8:12-30

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... as the ‘Am Ha-’aretz, or “people of the land.” Because they had neither studied the law systematically nor been brought up to obey it in anything but a very general way, they were regarded by some of the pious as cursed of God (for illustrations of this in rabbinic literature, see the Mishnah, Aboth 2.6; 3.11). The authorities’ first impression of Jesus when he appeared at the festival was that he was unschooled in the law (cf. v. 15), and despite all that had transpired since then the Pharisees ...

690. Imitating Christ's Humility

Philippians 2:1-11

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

... (lit., “the form of a slave”). This does not mean that he exchanged the nature (or form) of God for the nature (or form) of a servant: it means that he displayed the nature (or form) of God in the nature (or form) of a servant. An excellent illustration of this is provided by the account in John 13:3–5 of what took place at the Last Supper: it was in full awareness of his divine origin and destiny, in full awareness of the authority conferred on him by the Father, that Jesus washed his disciples ...

691. Pressing on Toward the Goal

Philippians 3:12-4:1

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

... ,” JTS n.s. 22 [1971], pp. 356, 357; and in Jesus und Paulus, ed. E. E. Ellis and E. Grässer, p. 155). When Paul says that “our citizenship is already (Gk. hyparchei) in heaven” and yet points forward to its consummation at the advent of Christ, he illustrates the interplay of realized and future eschatology in the NT; on this and other features of the present passage see A. T. Lincoln, Paradise Now and Not Yet, pp. 87–109. 3:21 The “body of our humiliation” (sōma tēs tapeinōseōs hēmōn ...

692. Love and Obey the Lord

Deuteronomy 11:1-32

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... reads) and God speaking in the first person, as here. This does not indicate disruption in the text, but is characteristic of the interlocking of the word of Moses and the word of Yahweh in Deut. as a whole—another feature of the book that illustrates Moses’ prophetic role and stature. 11:24 Every place where you set your foot will be yours (cf. 2:5; Josh. 1:3; 14:9): The act ofwalking overor around aplot ofterritory could be a symbolic declaration of legal ownership. The extent of the land within ...

693. Passover

Deuteronomy 16:1-8

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... 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 find that the joy of Israel’s festivals was to be ...

694. Atonement for an Unsolved Murder

Deuteronomy 21:1-9

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... to all kinds of analogous situations of weakness and power. 21:15–17 The right of the firstborn son. The next two laws balance each other. The first protects a son from an unfair father; the second protects parents from an unruly son. Together they illustrate the balance of rights and responsibilities that exist in a family, and even more so, in wider society. Polygamy was permitted in Israelite society but was probably not very common. It was a sign of wealth and prestige and so was something of a perk ...

695. Praise and Prayer

Isaiah 63:7--64:12

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... is addressed by people to Yahweh (e.g., Ps. 6:4; 80:14). Indeed, getting Yahweh to “turn” is a basic concern of a lament, related to the notion of gaining Yahweh’s attention (see v. 15). The two possible uses of this imperative illustrate the uncomfortable place where a prophet lived—between God and people, called to confront both. The outrageousness continues in verses 18–19. Only for a little while did the people possess Yahweh’s holy place (well, four hundred years). All that the prophet’s ...

696. Signs and Oracles of Judgment

Ezekiel 4:1-5:17, Ezekiel 6:1-14, Ezekiel 7:1-27

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... the period of Israel’s sin. Rather, he has “put the sin of the house of Israel upon [himself]” and, for the duration of this sign, he is said “to bear their sin” (4:4). Ezekiel’s action is not a mere illustration; it accomplishes something. By his sign-acts, then, Ezekiel not only witnesses to the Lord’s judgment, but he also becomes an agent of judgment. 4:1–3 The first sign-act is fairly straightforward. Ezekiel carves a drawing of Jerusalem onto a clay brick. Then he lays siege ...

697. Jesus Adopted by Joseph

Matthew 1:18-25

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... the age” (28:20). We can proclaim with confidence that Jesus goes with and empowers his followers as they live out both discipleship and mission (28:19–20). For Jesus has come among us as the one named “Immanuel . . . ‘God with us.’” Illustrating the Text Jesus is the fulfillment of the Scriptures and Israel’s story. Film: The Wizard of Oz. The best-made movies capture a well-written story. One technique of great storytellers is “foreshadowing,” whereby later events are portrayed subtly in ...

698. Sermon on the Mount: Praying, Not Judging

Matthew 7:7-12, Matthew 7:1-6

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... regular basis. Part of the good news is this: God truly cares about the world and for humanity, made in the image of God. So people can pray with confidence that God acts above and beyond how loving parents act toward their children. Illustrating the Text Jesus warns his disciples against presumptuous and harsh judgment of others. Literature: The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger. This well-known novel provides an intriguing example of judgment of others without a corresponding critical eye on the self ...

699. Sermon on the Mount: Final Warnings and Call to Obey Jesus’ Words

Matthew 7:13-14, Matthew 7:15-23, Matthew 7:24-29

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... we will not have gone far enough if we only teach Jesus’ teachings. We need to press toward helping our churches live out those teachings in their contexts. And this will necessarily involve discipling and modeling by example as well as teaching with words. Illustrating the Text Doing the will of God—that is, obeying the words of Jesus—is the proper and wise response to Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. Hymn: “Trust and Obey,” by John H. Sammis. This classic hymn nicely brings together ...

700. Jesus, Isaiah’s Servant of the Lord, Heals Many

Matthew 8:14-17, Matthew 8:5-13, Matthew 8:1-4

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... when he narrates the post-resurrection Jesus calling his disciples to obey all that he has commanded(28:20).Torah obedience is refracted through the lens of Jesus’ own Torah teaching. It is his teachings that are now authoritative for the Christian community. Illustrating the Text Matthew encourages readers to put their faith in Jesus and his authority over sickness. Quote: Here is a prayer for healing from the Book of Common Prayer: “O God, the source of all health: So fill my heart with faith in ...

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