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 1301 to 1325 of 4947 results

1301. Prophecy of Scripture

2 Peter 1:12-21

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... coming exodus at Jerusalem is mentioned. (A third occurrence of the word, in Heb. 11:22, is to the exodus from Egypt.) “Exodus” in the sense of death is found in the Wisdom of Solomon (3:2; 7:6), a popular apocryphal work of the mid-second century B.C. ... Pet. 2:7 with Wisd. of Sol. 10:6). Wisdom of Solomon 3:2 indicates that exodus could mean not only death in the terminal sense, but transition to another state, as implied by Luke 9:31 and 2 Pet. 1:15. Always, hekastotē (in the NT only here), is related ...

1302. Moses Flees to Midian

Exodus 2:11-25

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... in the wilderness (Gen. 16:13) and she gave God the name “Roi” or “the one who sees me” (roʾi). The implication is that God was moving toward them to provide. The last of the four verbs is brief in the original, with the sense simply that God knew. God understood their situation and their suffering. This divine knowledge stands opposite the statement in 1:8 that the pharaoh “did not know . . . Joseph.” God was on the move to enter into their experience, a move that would eventually cost God ...

1303. The Golden Calf

Exodus 32:1-33:6

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... in tone (Gen. 3:12–13; Exod. 32:22–24). The offhanded manner in which they dismiss God’s concern intensifies the reader’s experience of the insidious, rationalizing nature of the sin. Alienation from God and blaming others is “sin” in the original sense—the sin has corrupted all relationships and yet the sinner defends the behavior as normal. Moses told the people that he would try to make atonement for their sin with the Lord. This atonement (or “covering”) had nothing to do with blood or ...

1304. The Fall of Jericho

Joshua 5:13--6:27

Understanding Series

J. Gordon Harris

... by how the people obey or do not obey their orders from God. In either case, the answer identifies the stranger as the commander of the heavenly hosts and does not commit God to support one side or the other. The surprising answer is comforting in the sense that the heavenly commander is present, but it is disturbing to know that commander reserves the right to change sides in any conflict. Either answer undermines the doctrine of holy war, with its view that God fights for a chosen nation. The Lord remains ...

1305. Ruth Meets Boaz

Ruth 2:1-23

Understanding Series

Michael S. Moore

... in tears among the alien corn. Ruth seems to be coming to a theological realization, however unfocused, of a need for grace. Whether it is a need for human or divine grace is impossible to say. Whether this is the first or the hundredth time she has sensed this need is also impossible to say. We have no evidence for imagining overt religious activity in her life (in contrast to, say, Micah in Judg. 17). We only know that what she requests is not hesed but khen (“favor,” a derivative of the same root in ...

1306. Rebuilding the Altar

Ezra 3:1-6

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... whole length of the first period” (Japhet, “Sheshbazzar and Zerubbabel,” p. 94). Their brothers posits a parallel and contrast with v. 2. The doubled Heb. ’ahehem, lit. “his brothers” (fellow priests, associates), is here resumed by the single “their brothers,” with the sense of “fellow-Israelites” (REB). The lower limit of twenty years of age, also set in 1 Chr. 23:24, 27; 2 Chr. 31:17, seems to reflect the practice in the narrator’s period. It is at variance with the limit of thirty ...

1307. Opposition to the Rebuilding

Nehemiah 4:1-23

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... The parallelism in Ps. 85:2 with Do not cover up their guilt indicates that forgiveness is in mind, here deprecated as inappropriate. 4:6 Often the human will is intended by this term heart, as often in English. 4:10 The people in Judah is lit. “Judah,” in the sense of “the people of Judah who were building the wall” (vv. 16–17). The two lines of Heb. poetry (MT v. 4) have a 3+2 meter associated with mourning (see BHS). The REB and NJPS use a poetic layout and try to reproduce the meter. 4:12 The ...

1308. The Agreement of the People

Neh 9:38–10:39

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... 9:2 stated and as verses 30–31 will further explain. It embraced women as well as men, and children old enough to understand and relate meaningfully to the pledge, as seen in the Torah reading of 8:2–3. Chapters 7–10 convey a sense of continuity, with the fresh start in chapter 7 leading into the second half of Nehemiah’s mission. 10:30–31a After the general preamble, the first two of six specific stipulations follow. The two applications of Torah material considered here have already been defined ...

1309. Queen Vashti Deposed

Esther 1:1-22

Understanding Series

Timothy S. Laniak

... to the opening vista: a vast kingdom ruled by an absolutely powerful king (compare 1:20 with v. 1). 1:10–12 A sense of foreboding is in the air when the king is described as in high spirits from wine (v. 10). Readers familiar with biblical ... The wise men who understood the times: The “wise men” may be those who understand (1) the law, (2) the “times” in the sense of how people were thinking, or (3) astrology. Ancient Babylonians and Persians loked for signs from the heavens. Haman will seek a date ...

1310. Mordecai Persuades Esther to Help

Esther 4:1-17

Understanding Series

Timothy S. Laniak

... who approach him unbidden: death (v. 11; Herodotus, Hist. 3.72, 77, 84, 118, 140). Esther is not simply protecting herself. She has not been called to go to the king for thirty days and cannot presume to hold any special favor with him. Mordecai has a sense of urgency that supersedes any of Esther’s concerns. If she doesn’t go to the king, she will not escape (v. 13). She may have had grounds for thinking that some Jews in the extremities of the empire would be harmed, but those in the palace would ...

1311. Sin and Punishment

Jeremiah 8:4--9:26

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... righteousness and thus an unmitigated positive category. The only true wisdom is a wisdom bequeathed by God himself (Prov. 1:7). However, Jeremiah knows of wise men whose purposes are at odds with God (Jer. 18:18). Whether he uses this term in a purely professional sense is a matter of debate. The safest way to understand the expression here is to think of these people as those who are wise in their own eyes. 9:25–26 This passage has been debated through the centuries. The difficulty has to do primarily ...

1312. Restoration of Israel

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... However, as far as we know, if it is palace, this prophecy remains unfulfilled. It is more likely to be taken in the sense offered by the NRSV. The response from the people will be songs of thanksgiving and joy. In terms of the latter, one ... the prophets who ministered under the old covenant.” The oracle ends with a motive clause for why they do not need a teacher in the sense of a covenant mediator. God will forgive them for their evil deeds. He will not remember their sins any more. The fact that he will ...

1313. I am the Man Who Has Seen Affliction

Lamentations 3:1-66

One Volume

Tremper Longman III

... 11; 43:5). These psalms (probably an original unity as indicated by the repeated refrain and lack of title on 43) bemoan separation from the presence of God and likely separation from Jerusalem. Even so, the final line in this stanza moves to hope. While denying a sense of hope in verse 18, the man now expresses the birth of hope. It is based on something that he has called to mind (this). The next three-verse stanza will explicate what “this” is. 3:22–24 Het. The eighth stanza is the most optimistic ...

1314. Israel Unrepentant

Hosea 6:1--7:16

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... ,” i.e., “to that which does not profit” (so the NRSV; cf. Jer. 2:8, 11). The RSV reads “to Baal.” Either of these emendations seems preferable to that of the NIV, but once again, we have no certainty about the precise meaning of the text. The general sense is clear, however: Israel has abandoned God. It is like a slack bow, i.e., like a bow that is not strung tightly enough to allow the archer to hit a target (cf. Ps. 78:57). Thus, closing this section on Israel’s political life is Yahweh’s ...

1315. Warnings and Exhortations for Jerusalem and Judah

Zephaniah 1:1-3, Zephaniah 1:4-13, Zephaniah 1:14--2:3

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... links and links in content suggest this is right. Judah is then the “nation” Zephaniah addresses, and the verses tell Zephaniah’s hearers what are the implications of 1:2–18, how Judah is to respond. The word goy can be applied to Israel in a neutral sense; it is simply the word for nation. Indeed, Yahweh promised to make Abraham into a great goy, and verse 9 will refer to “my nation.” But the book of Isaiah almost begins by calling Judah “a sinful nation” (Isa. 1:4), and it is this usage ...

1316. A Call to Build the House of the Lord

Haggai 1:1-15

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... the Akkadian word for “offspring” is zeru. It was quite normal for Judeans to have foreign names without an implication of compromise; cf., for instance, “Hadassah” who is known as “Esther.” 1:5 Your ways: the NRSV has “how you have fared,” which makes sense in the context, but it is hard to find parallels for derakim having this meaning. At the very least, the expression points to the link between the way people are presently experiencing life and the way they have been living. 1:11 Haggai ...

1317. Blemished Sacrifices and Admonition for the Priests

Malachi 1:6-14, Malachi 2:1-9

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

... v. 4). In spite of the judgment the priests currently suffer, this mitswah offers them hope for the future. If they will minister as priests according to God’s command (v. 7), then the covenant with Levi will continue. It is in this sense that this passage functions as admonition, or command. 2:3 Rebuke: The LXX translation, “banish,” suggests a Heb. text gdʿ, “hew,” or grʿ, “trim.” (Resh and dalet are frequently confused because of their similar appearance.) This text may be behind the NIV ...

1318. Judah Unfaithful

Malachi 2:10-16

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

... to their shared goals of survival and prosperity. 2:15 Finally, verse 15a completes the description of marriage. The relationships among these eleven Hebrew words are very difficult to determine, as they do not follow the usual patterns of Hebrew sentences. Making sense of the first eight words depends on the meaning of the final three: seeking, literally, “the seed of God”—that is, godly offspring. The phrase includes the children born to individual families who will be raised to follow the Lord’s ...

1319. John the Baptist's Testimony about Jesus

John 3:22-36

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... he was sent ahead of the Messiah may be an inference from statements that the Messiah would come “after” him (1:15, 27, 30). The matter is complicated by the assertion in 1:15, 30 that the Messiah is “ahead of” John in quite a different sense, referring to status or dignity rather than time. Alternatively, it is possible that John is quoting verbatim a form of the tradition that did not find its way into chapter 1. He Who Comes from Heaven The Gospel writer adds a theological reflection to John the ...

1320. The Healing at the Pool

John 5:1-15, John 5:16-30

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... began his work of sustaining and watching over the world (see, e.g., Philo, Allegory of the Laws I, 5f.). In this sense, God himself breaks the Sabbath. Building on this conclusion, Jesus argues that if God (whom he calls his Father) is still at ... discussion of God and the Sabbath, but at the phrase, my Father, with its implied claim that Jesus was God’s son in a unique sense (v. 18). To them it sounded as if he was making himself equal with God (something Jesus is said in Phil. 2:6 to have deliberately ...

1321. Jesus the Bread of Life

John 6:25-59

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. When did he tell them this? The most plausible answer is 5:38: “for you do not believe the one he sent” (cf. 5:40, 43, 46–47). When Jesus’ discourses take on a formal character, there is a sense in which his opponents are always the same people (i.e., “the Jews” 5:18; 6:41), whether he is in Galilee or Jerusalem and regardless of the occasion. He did not tell them in so many words that they had seen him. The association of seeing with believing ...

1322. Jesus and Those Who “Believed”

John 8:31-41, John 8:42-47, John 8:48-59

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... Abraham’s descendants, they are proud of having never been slaves of anyone (v. 33). Jesus explains that he is using slavery as a metaphor for sin and death (vv. 34–36). Descendants of Abraham or not, they are subject to death like everyone else and, in that sense, slaves (cf. Heb. 2:14–15). Jesus’ promise to set them free is a promise of life, an alternative to the grim prospect of dying in their sins (cf. vv. 21, 24). Verse 51 will make the promise explicit without the use of metaphor: I tell you ...

1323. The Unbelief of the Jews

John 10:22-42

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... at his words by the religious authorities. His point is not that he is God’s Son but not God, or that he is God in a sense comparable to the way that title was used in Psalm 82:6. His point is rather that titles as such are irrelevant in his revelation of ... and deeds, whereas the later passage begins with Jesus’ deeds and then reflects on John’s testimony in postscript. In this sense, verses 40–42 are a postscript to verses 22–39, but their principal function is to introduce chapter 11. The length ...

1324. The Plot to Kill Jesus

John 11:45-57

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... as it might first appear. His intent is not merely to do away with Jesus before he brings down on Israel the wrath of Rome, but to maneuver Rome itself into doing away with him. Better for Rome to destroy one man than the whole nation. In this sense, according to Caiaphas, Jesus must die for the people (v. 50). The narrator seizes on the phrase die for the people and gives it a quite different interpretation in verses 51–52. He gives himself the liberty to do this on the grounds that Caiaphas (as high ...

1325. Jesus’ Love and the World’s Hatred

John 15:1-17

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... 10:19; Luke 12:11–12). Though this is the main import of the promise of the Spirit in its historical and literary context, it is likely that the first readers of the Gospel (like many readers today) regarded it as the conferral of authority in a more general sense on those who had been with Jesus from the beginning (v. 27; cf. 1 John 1:1–3). Those who had witnessed his words and deeds on earth were the ones uniquely qualified to be the vehicles of the Spirit’s witness from heaven. But if Jesus, or the ...

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