Sermon and Worship Resources

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Leviticus 18:1-30

Understanding Series

W. H. Bellinger, Jr.

... An economic and social rationale seems more likely, and the priests have absorbed this instruction in their outlook for these purposes. Both perspectives fit in the overall context of the book of Leviticus. 18:19–23 This section brings forward a variety of other prohibitions loosely related to verses 6–18 and connected to earlier texts as well. Israel will further demonstrate her holiness by following these instructions. Four of the five prohibitions here relate to sexual matters, while the other has to ...

977. Punishments for Sin

Leviticus 20:1-27

Understanding Series

W. H. Bellinger, Jr.

... of the Decalogue. Anyone who curses his father or mother is liable for the death penalty and responsible for those actions: his blood will be on his own head. The act is one of significant dishonor to parents. The following verses treat a variety of capital offenses relating to sexual misconduct. The first capital offense is adultery. Both adulterer and adulteress are to be executed. The method of execution is not specified, but stoning is probably envisioned in the cases where a method is not given ...

978. Rules for Priests

Leviticus 21:1--22:16

Understanding Series

W. H. Bellinger, Jr.

... difficulties of this passage, see M. Zipor, “Restrictions on Marriage for Priests (Lev 21:7, 13–14),” Biblica 68 (1987), pp. 259–67. The term translated by marriage (ba’al) probably means “as a husband.” The word is used in a variety of contexts and relationships as “owner,” “ruler,” “chief,” but the sense “husband” here is a reasonable rendering. The context is a restriction on those for whom priests can participate in mourning. This verse rules out those related to the priest ...

979. The Sabbath Year

Leviticus 25:1-7

Understanding Series

W. H. Bellinger, Jr.

The Sabbath and Jubilee: This chapter turns to the Sabbath principle as it applies to a variety of issues in ancient society like land, property, and slaves. The theological perspective operates out of a creation context, with ancient Israelites functioning as stewards of property and wealth, rather than as owners. God the creator holds that role. The chapter argues that viewing possessions as divine gifts to a ...

980. The Levites

Numbers 3:1-51

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

The first chapter of Numbers counted the people and then turned to the Levites; the second chapter organized the tribes. This third chapter returns to those with clerical tasks, first the priests and then the organization of the Levites. Chapter 3 contains a variety of materials and perspectives but still concentrates on the organization of this community according to Priestly principles. 3:1–4 Numbers has not yet attended to the question of the priesthood; it comes to that issue by way of the family of ...

981. The Purity of the Camp

Numbers 5:1-4

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

... of the purity legislation in Leviticus and Numbers, but ordering life in a camp vulnerable to sin and impurity, with a holy God present in its midst, is crucial. Additional Notes 5:2 Anyone who has an infectious skin disease (tsarua’) refers to a variety of skin conditions deemed unclean according to the instruction in Lev. 13. A discharge (zab) is the cause of impurity treated in Lev. 15. Exclusion from the camp because of a discharge suggests that the condition is more serious than in Lev. 15. 5:6 ...

982. Fire from the Lord

Numbers 11:1-3

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

... and Medad. Joshua wishes to restrict prophecy to professionals authorized by Moses. Moses’ response is that he wishes all the people were prophets with God’s Spirit. Moses as leader is open to prophetic voices within the camp. The prophetic movement in ancient Israel included a variety of voices. 11:31–35 In the final section of the story, God uses the wind to drive flocks of quail in from the sea and make them easy to gather, close to the ground (v. 31—“two cubits” or about one meter or three ...

983. Exploring Canaan

Numbers 13:1-25

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

Of Spies and Rebellions: Numbers 13–14 constitutes one of the central narratives in the book, a kind of watershed that determines the course of a generation in Israel. The narrative is complicated and carefully constructed, taking a variety of turns along the way. Since the census in Numbers 1, readers have been prepared for some military encounter. As chapter 13 begins, the people in the Desert of Paran appear on the verge of the land they have been promised and are preparing to take possession of it. ...

984. Supplementary Offerings

Numbers 15:1-21

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

... . The people were instructed to bring an offering of firstfruits in Leviticus 23 (see Deut. 26), and here in Numbers that instruction is expanded to a first meal offering. The text certainly anticipates settled life, with agriculture, ovens, baking, and the hope for a variety of foods. As verses 1–16 relate to grains, these verses relate to foods from grains and the offerings of them. Additional Notes 15:3 Offerings made by fire: See the note on Lev. 1:9 for the alternate translation “gift.” An aroma ...

985. Duties of Priests and Levites

Numbers 18:1-7

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

... the community to sustain the life-giving, but threatening, holiness at the center of the camp. The community should therefore provide for the priests. 18:8–20 The rest of the chapter considers the offerings that support the priests and Levites, bringing together a variety of instructions from other places. The address is still to Aaron alone. The basic principle of the section is stated in verse 8: God has given the offerings to the priests. The part that goes to the priests is, of course, that which is ...

986. Balaam’s First Oracle

Numbers 23:1-12

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

... still at hand. God is moving the events of history. God will bring Israel into the land and bless this people. Additional Notes 23:1 The context indicates no special significance for the number seven, though the number does have sacred significance in a variety of settings. Rams and bulls are the most valued of the sacrificial animals. Balak and Balaam offer their best in search of a divine word. 23:3 The term for barren height is rare and its translation somewhat problematic, but no plausible alternative ...

987. Towns for the Levites

Numbers 35:1-5

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

... provision for clergy arises several times in Numbers. 35:9–15 The remainder of the chapter deals with the provision, set out again in a divine speech to Moses, of six of the Levitical towns as cities of refuge. Asylum is an ancient custom in a variety of cultures. This chapter specifies one form of it. A city of refuge is a place to which a person who has killed someone accidentally may flee. The procedure outlined here assumes a context of blood vengeance. One of the ways to deter murder in that culture ...

988. The Last Words of David

2 Samuel 23:1-7

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... is not elsewhere in Samuel portrayed as having prophetic gifts or calling, and it is unlikely that he thought he might be presented as a prophet as well as a poet. However, it is possible that the writers intended this placement of this oracle to emphasize the variety and extent of David’s gifts. Acts 2:30 refers to David as a prophet in the context of looking at what David says about his descendants. This oracle takes for granted the concept of sacral kingship, that is, the king had a religious role as ...

989. Zophar

Job 11:1-20

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... proverb, the futility of hoping that such a person might become wise is matched by the unlikely possibility that a wild donkey’s colt might be born a man. This proverb is a muchdebated passage, and scholars have proposed a variety of different interpretations. Pope (Job, p. 86) suggests persuasively that the comparison is between a “witless man” gaining sense and a “wild donkey” (pereʾ ʾadam) being born “tame” (ʿayir). This also retains the sense of improbability that is the crucial ...

990. Eliphaz's Second Speech to Job

Job 15:1-35

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... difficult because of uncertainty regarding the verb translated paid in full (Heb. timmaleʾ). The form is a Niphal imperfect, feminine singular, while the subjects usually suggested (“his time” or “the wicked himself”) are masculine. This has led to a variety of emendations, most of which are not very persuasive. Perhaps a way forward is to take this verb as anticipating the feminine singular noun that follows (Heb. wekippato, “its branch”), so that the sentence would read: “Before its time ...

991. Bildad's Second Speech to Job

Job 18:1-21

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... man. Although the noun for “evil man” (Heb. ʿawwal) is in the singular, the Hebrew speaks in the plural of “these . . . dwellings,” possibly referring to the examples in the preceding verses of a life imagined as a tent or temporary dwelling in a variety of circumstances. The second half of the verse further defines the nature of the “evil man” as one who knows not God. Knowing God in this sense is not a matter of intellectual knowledge about God, but an experiential knowing of the heart that ...

992. Eliphaz's Third Speech to Job

Job 22:1-30

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... judgment for sin in verse 11. 22:29 There are textual difficulties in the last two verses of chapter 22. The Hebrew of the opening half of verse 29 reads something like: “They bring low and you say ‘Arrogance!’ ” Translators offer a variety of improvements, most depending rather circularly on what the sentence is thought to mean. Some assume the intercessory activity of Job is intended, and thus render the initial verb in the passive (“[When] they [others] are brought low . . .”) and read the ...

993. Job's Third Reply to Eliphaz

Job 23:1--24:25

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... Clines’ commentary on this verse (Clines, Job 21–37, pp. 580–81). No Time Set for Judgment While there is a general consensus that the first 17 verses of the chapter represent the speech of Job, some translations and commentaries make a variety of attempts to reassign parts of the material in chapter 24 to speakers other than Job. Scholars claim that rearrangement is necessary because the sentiments in certain verses (particularly vv. 18–24) are contrary to those Job expresses earlier in the chapter ...

994. Elihu

Job 32:1--37:24

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... baraq, but the more general term for light (ʾor). Rather than the destructive force of a lightning strike, the emphasis here seems to be on the blinding flashes associated with lightning—flashes that illuminate the entire landscape. The translations offer a variety of interpretations of the phrase bathing the depths of the sea, which literally means “covers the roots of the sea.” The most popular options are to read the verb kissah as meaning the opposite, “uncover” (Gordis, Job, pp. 421–22 ...

995. The Lord Speaks

Job 38:1--41:34

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... me with a storm.” Thus Job (and the reader) cannot know at first what God’s intentions are in appearing as he does. The “storm” cannot be taken universally as a sign of judgment, however, since fierce storm imagery describes the presence of God in a variety of circumstances (Exod. 19:16–24; 2 Kgs. 2:1, 11; Ps. 29). At the most, one can say that the “storm” cloaks the fierce otherness of the presence of God in his fullness in the midst of the world of human experience—a presence that causes ...

996. Epilogue

Job 42:7-17

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... (and not the sons!) is unusual, as is the extended discussion of their beauty and inheritance. “Jemimah” means “dove,” or “turtledove,” a bird known for its grace and beauty (Song 2:14). Keziah refers to the perfume derived from kassia, a variety of cinnamon. Keren-Happuch, “horn of kohl,” is a container of eye makeup used to highlight the eyes. As Pope (Job, p. 292) puts it, “The names of Job’s daughters represent natural feminine physical and spiritual charms enhanced by perfumer’s ...

997. Acquittal for the Falsely Accused (Ps. 7)

Psalm 7:1-17

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

Psalm 7 is a prayer psalm of the individual. It uses a variety of images (God as refuge and judge, enemies as lions and hunters; legal, militaristic, and birth imagery), and it is difficult to discern which features might indicate the speaker’s personal circumstances and which might derive from the general symbolism of the temple and its regular liturgies. There is also ...

998. How Long, O Lord?

Psalm 13:1-6

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... ., is it a psalm of sickness?) are frustrated by its general language. Does “Give light to my eyes” point to a physical or psychological weakness? But this open-ended language helps explain the long-standing popularity of psalms, which can be used for a variety of personal needs. This image may, in fact, derive not from the speaker’s circumstances but from the poetic imagery of a face-to-face relationship evident elsewhere in the psalm. It may be an echo of the Aaronic Benediction, “May Yahweh cause ...

999. Seeking Security in the House of the Lord

Psalm 27:1-14

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... of formulaic (i.e., common) phrases found scattered among many other prayer psalms (see Craigie, Psalms 1–50, 233; R. C. Culley, Oral Formulaic Language in the Biblical Psalms [Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1967], p. 103). Since these psalms reflect a variety of recurring distresses, it is likely this psalm was composed for a wide spectrum of circumstances. The closing testimony and exhortation (vv. 13–14) imply some kind of audience is present during the psalm’s performance. It may thus be a ...

1000. The Wicked with Tongues like Arrows and the Divine Archer

Psalm 64:1-10

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... is their primary weapon: their tongues are likened to swords, and their words to arrows, which they shoot from ambush (lit. “hiding places”). Their words promote conspiracy (vv. 2, 5–6). In addition, such images leave the psalm open to a variety of social situations. Conceivable are those of gossip, slander, false accusation, mockery, temptation, and incantations. At the psalm’s opening we hear an individual voice petitioning God for protection from the threat of the enemy (vv. 1–2). A lament (vv ...

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