Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 951 to 975 of 3852 results

Deuteronomy 16:18-20

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... of Solomon has clearly been written with these verses as a background, it is not necessary to assume that this law of kingship must be a post factum reflection of Solomon. The nature of ancient Near Eastern monarchies was common knowledge, and Israel, from its earliest origins, had plenty of dealings with nations headed by kings (e.g., already, Sihon of the hard heart and Og of the hard bed, Deut. 2:30; 3:11). Any leader or legislator in Israel had enough knowledge of what kings could be like to know what ...

952. Curses from Mount Ebal

Deuteronomy 27:9-26

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... (v. 16), reinforcing the centrality of the family within the national covenant relationship. Since the economic viability of the family on its own inherited share of the land is paramount, the next curse is directed at those whose greed attacks the original land division and who change boundaries to their own advantage (v. 17). This is followed by two curses against those who exploit the weak and vulnerable—perhaps the second most prominent concern of Deuteronomy after its covenantal monotheism (vv. 18f ...

953. The Song of Moses

Deuteronomy 31:30--32:47

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... part of the deliberation that leads up to the fresh decision in vv. 35ff. 32:43 Various attempts have been made to restore the MT here on the assumption that the Dead Sea Scrolls (4QDt) and LXX have preserved a reading closer to the original. All textual reconstruction remains tentative, of course, but that suggested by Albright (“Remarks”) is reasonably probable. Shout for joy, O heavens, before him, Worship him all you sons of God. Shout for joy, O nations with his people, give might to him all you ...

954. The Sons of David

1 Chronicles 3:1-9

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... despite the interruption of the exile. However, the social identity being fostered here should also not be overlooked. By means of this genealogical interface between two eras, the postexilic community (or at least the part that is the Chronicler’s origins) is claiming its rightful place in a new dispensation. One could ask at this stage whether this material was intended only for an inner-Jerusalemite audience (which was certainly the primary audience) or whether it also has polemical overtones directed ...

955. David's Psalm of Thanks

1 Chronicles 16:7-43

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... Chronicler creates a pause in the progress of the narrative to let the theological significance of the transfer of blessings sink in. Additionally, the hymn also draws the Chronicler’s audience into participation in the ancient events and, in so doing, reenacts the original scene as a way of affirming something about their community. The ark narrative concludes in 16:43 with all the people going to their homes, while David goes to his home to bless his family (“house”). With this remark the reader is ...

956. David's Officials

1 Chronicles 18:14-17

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... Chronicler’s hand. However, the Septuagint, the Old Latin version, and Josephus all contain this indication. This therefore confirms that the Chronicler must have had another source text available in addition to the Masoretic Text and that these words are not his original statements (see Klein, 1 Chronicles, p. 394). 18:12 It remains unclear who led the battle against the Edomites. Whereas 2 Sam. 8:13 credits David, the Chronicler gives the glory to Abishai son of Zeruiah. The reason for the difference ...

957. The Battle Against the Ammonites

1 Chronicles 19:1-19

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

958. The Capture of Rabbah

1 Chronicles 20:1-3

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

959. War with the Philistines

1 Chronicles 20:4-8

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

960. Gifts for Building the Temple

1 Chronicles 29:1-9

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... The mention of darics in this verse is anachronistic. The narrative context, that is, the time of David and Solomon, predates the minting of “darics” under the Persian King Darius in 515 B.C. by centuries. The use of the word reflects the time of origin of Chronicles (i.e., at least after 515 B.C.). Additional Notes 29:1 and 29:19 The NIV translates the noun for the temple building as palatial structure. The Hebrew word (habbirah) often describes a fortified structure on top of a hill. That Araunah’s ...

961. King Artaxerxes' Letter to Ezra

Ezra 7:11-28

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... Ancient Israel (Oxford: Clarendon, 1985), pp. 113, 263–65. 7:7 In Ezra’s own introduction the text would have read “We came up,” referring to both himself and his fellow exiles (Williamson, Ezra, Nehemiah, pp. 90, 93). This gave a smooth continuation between the original first sg. references of vv. 6 and 8–9. The editor replaced “We” with a definition of Ezra’s companions, taken from v. 13 and amplified with the vocabulary of v. 24. This added a greater specificity than that of 8:1–20, by ...

962. Those Guilty of Intermarriage

Ezra 10:18-44

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... name Bani has already occurred in v. 29, where its placement in a cluster of clan names is in agreement with Ezra 2:7–11. By the same token, since Hashum is followed by “Bezai” in Neh. 7:22–23, that may have been the original name here, though no textual evidence for it has survived (Barthélemy, Critique textuelle, vol. 1, pp. 528f.). 10:38 From the descendants of Binnui: The MT, retained in the NJPS, has “and Bani and Binnui.” The NIV, together with other modern versions, has reconstructed ...

963. Haman's Rage Against Mordecai

Esther 5:9-14

Understanding Series

Timothy S. Laniak

... feet high) on which to hang his enemy. This was certainly an attempt to make a public spectacle of Mordecai’s private insurrection (see also Esth. 2:23). The fact that Haman is delighted (v. 14) with this idea is as premature and presumptuous as his gloating over the original plan in 3:15. This sort of sadistic joy in the downfall of an enemy is the joy of triumph often feared in the psalms of lament (Ps. 35:19, 24, 26). Haman has now twice concocted plans that will backfire on him. The date that was set ...

964. The Branch from Jesse

Isaiah 11:1-16

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... speak in terms of Yahweh’s spirit. The spirit of Yahweh appears in the OT in connection with powerful manifestations of Yahweh on prophets, on the leaders in Judges, and on the first kings. The return to that provision here thus suggests a link with the origin of the monarchy (see v. 1). It was of the essence of this coming of Yahweh’s spirit that it was tumultuous and unpredictable, as was the case with Saul. The notion that Yahweh’s spirit might rest on someone is therefore almost an oxymoron. This ...

965. New Heavens and a New Earth

Isaiah 65:17-25

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... not yet over (Rev. 12:12–17). The martyrs and the rest of the church thus continue to ask “How long?” along with those who prayed the prayer in 63:7–64:12. When their prayer is granted, then they will see the fulfillment of God’s original creation vision, of a full human community life with God in which joy replaces grief (v. 19), long life replaces earthly death (v. 20), fulfillment in work replaces frustration (vv. 21–23). There will be an end to the argument between them and God about who is ...

966. Jeremiah's Complaint

Jeremiah 12:1-4, Jeremiah 12:5-17, Jeremiah 11:18-23

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... in anticipation of the fuller attack of 597 B.C. If so, these are the nations who should be identified with the birds of prey that ravage Judah. We should note that the Septuagint translated speckled bird of prey as “hyena’s lair.” If this represents the original text correctly, then the idea is that the birds of prey will pounce on the hyena and the dead carcasses in the lair as soon as they detect an opening. Uprooting and Reestablishing the Nations (12:14-17): 12:14–17 In the final oracle of the ...

967. Noah and the Robots

Genesis 9:8-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... , quickly assumed a life of their own. Sometimes they made decisions that surprised him as the author. While Dickens thought that he was the sole author constructing the narrative, his characters were busy taking the story in a direction that he, the author, had not originally intended. (1) When I read that, I couldn’t help but think of the creation of human beings. When God created us, He did the most shocking thing. He gave us the freedom to decide our own destiny. Think about the implications of that ...

968. Rebirth

John 3:14-21

Sermon

John Jamison

... were intended to be heard. Mark was the first “Jesus book” written, probably around 60 CE, some thirty years after the stories took place. It is brief, to the point, and tells the story of Jesus in a step-by-step process and in a very simple language. Originally it ended at chapter 16:8 when Mary ran from the tomb after the angel told her Jesus had been raised and that the disciples should go to meet him in Galilee. The rest of chapter 16 is written in a different style and language, added in perhaps ...

969. No, We're Not There Yet

Mark 13:1-8

Sermon

April Yamasaki

... 13:32: "But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." On one level, Jesus was talking about the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. Just as the prophet Jeremiah had predicted the destruction of the original temple, so now Jesus predicted that the re-built temple would not last. He did not give a time, but from history we know that by 70 AD, Jerusalem was under siege by the Romans, there was much suffering and loss of life, and the temple was ...

970. What Really Counts

Mark 9:38-43

Sermon

King Duncan

... -percenters” and the rest of us--we’re fortunate that we do not have a lot more sectarian violence. When will we realize that Jesus is too big to restrict to one denomination, one culture, or one nationality? There are people of every circumstance and every ethnic origin who bear the name Christian. Just think of how small and petty we are being when we try to restrict Jesus to people who look and think like we do. Truth is always bigger than one person’s, or one denomination’s grasp of it. Like too ...

971. The Light Still Shines

Luke 2:8-20, Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

... was back on course. (1) Well, as you and I know, that’s not exactly how the story of the first Christmas unfolded. In the original there was no room in the inn. Mary and Joseph had no choice but to sleep in a stable. It wasn’t by choice but by ... of Jesus Christ. A man from Kentucky named John Jacob Niles spent many years wandering the Appalachian Mountains in search of the origins of folk songs. Niles found one folk song that was particularly significant. He was in North Carolina on a cold December day ...

972. Living Between the Times

John 17:20-26

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... . A committee recommended what we know today as the “The Great Seal of the United States.” It is a bald eagle with a fluttering yellow ribbon in its beak. On the ribbon is our motto in capital letters: E PLURIBUS UNUM — “Out of many, one.” Originally, that motto was intended to express how the thirteen distinct colonies were coming together to form one nation. Over the years, we have started to broaden that understanding to include how we are one nation that has been formed by people who came from ...

973. The Patience of the Scribes

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

... manuscripts of the New Testament, we do have over 99.9 percent of the original text, and this is because of the faithful work of manuscript copyists over the centuries. Yet the copying of the New Testament was a long and arduous process. Though it seems strange to us today, in antiquity, it was not customary to sit at a table or a desk while ...

974. Mimosa Pudica

Luke 10:1-10, 16-24

Sermon

Robert C. Cochran

... the Spirit that Christ sent to be with us until he returns! We must find a way to put aside our fear and move from that which dies upon touch to mori-vivi (“I died, I lived”). It takes the mimosa about thirty minutes to return to its original open state from an encounter with heat or touch. We could probably learn to shake off a bad evangelism encounter much quicker than that! Jesus told us how in today’s gospel lesson. First, he assured us that the harvest was plentiful. We do not have to go out ...

975. Giving Away the Nail

Illustration

Steve Farrar

... thousand dollars. But the reduced price came with a stipulation. The owner would sell the house, but he would keep ownership of a large nail protruding from over the front door. Several years later, the original owner decided he wanted to buy the house back. Understandably, the new owner was unwilling to sell. As a result, the original owner went out, found the carcass of a dead dog in the street, and hung it from the nail he still owned. Soon the house became unlivable, and the family was forced to sell to ...

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