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Showing 1376 to 1400 of 1858 results

1376. Two Adulterous Sisters

Ezekiel 23:1-49

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... come “the incense and oil that belonged to me” (v. 41). Here is a further demonstration of the link between faithlessness through foreign alliances and faithlessness through idolatry, which together the text describes as adultery. With their lovers, they held loud, wild, drunken parties, so that the Lord at last gave them up to their prostitution (vv. 42–44). However, righteous men (as opposed to the wicked men who have been the sisters’ clients) will sentence them to the punishment of women who ...

1377. Jerusalem’s Siege, in Parable and Sign

Ezekiel 24:1-14, Ezekiel 24:15-27

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... judgment is bloodshed: the slaughter of the innocent through the oppression and injustice of this bloody city (vv. 7–8; see also 11:6; 22:6). Leviticus 17:13 declares that to avoid defilement the people must cover even the blood of an animal they killed in the wild with earth. Yet the blood of the slain in Jerusalem is poured . . . on the bare rock (v. 7), where it cannot soak into the ground, and is left exposed. The point is plain: like blood spilled on bare rock, the guilt of Jerusalem is blatant, its ...

1378. Ezekiel a Watchman

Ezekiel 33:1-20, Ezekiel 33:21-33

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... ). Certainly, the survivors have no legitimate claim to the land. In verses 27–29, the Lord delivers judgment (again, introduced by the messenger formula). Far from emerging to reclaim the land, Ezekiel declares, the survivors will be wiped out by the sword . . . wild animals, and pestilence (compare 5:17 and 14:12–20, which also mention famine). For Ezekiel, it is necessary that the land be emptied: “I will make the land a desolate waste, and her proud strength will come to an end, and the ...

1379. A Prophecy Against Gog

Ezekiel 38:1-39:29

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... exodus, this text reveals God to be absolutely sovereign (compare Exod. 10:1–2; 14:1–4, 8–9). Gog and his allies will be slaughtered on the mountains of Israel, and left unburied: “I will give you as food to all kinds of carrion birds and to the wild animals” (v. 4; see also vv. 17–24). This recalls the fate of the Egyptians at the Red Sea (“That day the LORD saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore,” Exod. 14:30), as well as the fate ...

1380. Prologue to the Law of the Temple: The Lord Comes Home

Ezekiel 40:1--43:12

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... of Ningirsu in Lagash, and the opulence of its materials and furnishings, while Cylinder B details the coming of the god to inhabit the temple: The warrior Ningirsu entered the house, the owner of the house had come, a very eagle catching sight of a wild bull! The warrior’s entering his house was a storm roaring into battle. Ningirsu roamed through his house, it was (the sound of) the Apsu temple precincts when festivals are celebrated. The owner was ready to come out from his house— it was like the ...

1381. Sabbath Controversies with the Pharisees

Matthew 12:1-14

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... (to see this tendency, search the internet for “Jesus Sabbath breaker”). The resulting portrayal fits well with our cultural affinity for mavericks and nonconformists. In fact, sometimes our portrait of Jesus resembles a figure from our imaginings of the Wild West more than a first-century Jewish man. Part of this tendency arises from our ambivalence about the Jewish law, particularly the parts that focused on the Jewish temple, purity concerns, and Sabbath regulations. Yet Matthew has no problem ...

1382. Jesus’ Compassion and Authority to Feed and Heal

Matthew 15:21-28, Matthew 15:29-39

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Jeannine K. Brown

... to heal her daughter, although there are no textual clues that point in this direction. Sometimes readers focus on the distinction between kyon and kynarion (“dog” and its diminutive form) to indicate that Jesus compares Gentiles to the family pet versus a wild dog. Yet even if this diminutive is meant to soften the comparison, the comparison still seems less than complimentary. If it is the case that Matthew here offers a portrait of Jesus being hesitant to cross the missional boundary from Jew to ...

1383. Jesus’s Identity as Messiah and Son of God Established

Mark 1:1-8

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Grant R. Osborne

... with the crowds, and this will be one of the primary themes in Mark 1. The fact that they “went out” is a further part of the “new exodus” motif (cf. Exod. 13:4, 8; Deut. 23:4). 1:6 camel’s hair . . . leather belt . . . locusts and wild honey. John’s clothing and ascetic diet present him as a prophet like Elijah (2 Kings 1:8), continuing John’s fulfillment of Malachi 3:1, 4:5–6 as the Elijah-like forerunner of the Messiah. The answer to the spiritual needs of Israel cannot come from ...

1384. The Authority of Jesus over Nature and the Cosmic Powers

Mark 5:1-20, Mark 4:35-41

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Grant R. Osborne

... irons. Only Mark has the graphic description of the man’s supernatural strength and terrible sorrow. His power is stated three ways: ripped the chains apart, broke the shackles, overpowered all who tried to “tame” (damaz?, often used of taming wild animals) him. cry out and cut himself. The continual wailing is undoubtedly the result of painful sorrow; one commentator calls this “one of the most lamentable stories of human wretchedness in the Bible.”5The “cutting with stones” could be ritual ...

1385. John the Baptist

Luke 3:1-20

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R.T. France

... the word of God came to. This is a familiar scriptural formula (e.g., Jer. 1:1–2; Hosea 1:1) that marks John out as a prophet in succession to the Old Testament prophets. wilderness. The Jordan Valley north of the Dead Sea was a wild area remote from the nearest town, Jericho. For “wilderness” as a theologically pregnant term, see above on 1:80. 3:3 a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. This “dipping” in the Jordan, in an area far from recognized places of worship, was different ...

1386. Priorities

Luke 12:35-48, Luke 12:22-34

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R.T. France

... 12:26). The “cubit” is used here as a metaphor for a period of life (compare “lifespan”). The passage is about survival, not stature, and worrying about our survival changes nothing. It may even shorten our life. 12:27 Consider how the wild flowers grow. The birds illustrated God’s care about food; now flowers indicate his care about clothing. The God who lavishes such extraordinary beauty on such short-lived and common things is hardly likely to ignore his people’s need for proper clothing ...

1387. Personal Rights and Christian Testimony

1 Corinthians 9:1-27

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Preben Vang

... for Paul to give a typical rabbinical qal wahomer (from lesser to greater) argument.6 Oxen, the lesser matter, are not the real concern of the text; rather, God’s command gives direction to his people, the greater matter.7 Paul neither attempts a wild-eyed allegorical exposition nor tries to pick a fight with animal lovers.8 He simply applies a fully accepted method of interpretation to demonstrate his point.9 When God gives guidelines for the threshing floor, it brings hope to those plowing, sowing, and ...

1388. The Focus of Christian Worship

1 Corinthians 14:26-40, 1 Corinthians 14:1-25

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Preben Vang

... king to hear him above all others. Maybe he wants the other players to respect his overlooked abilities, or he wants to feel fully free and unshackled in his playing. Whatever the reason, he goes off the page and begins to dance around wildly, knocking over others’ music stands, playing different rhythms, and making a horrendous noise. Soon the entire orchestra is distracted and out of time, and all the other players are highly annoyed. The director breaks his baton and stomps off, and other musicians try ...

1389. John Called to Prophesy Again

Revelation 10:1-11

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... band as you talk about the tension of these two realities. God enables us to live a prophetic life through his presence and protection. Object Lesson: Take a large snow globe and shake it. Point out the chaos that is swirling inside. Yet no matter how wildly the snow might rage within this globe, a steady hand is holding it safely in place. There is a reality more real, more substantial. There is a will that lies behind the snowstorm within. Christians can live within this world as people who know that God ...

1390. The Temporary Imprisonment of Satan

Revelation 20:1-7

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J. Scott Duvall

... absolutely cannot live with any tension or loose ends or unanswered questions about how the world will end, we are susceptible to authoritative, airtight answers and systems that foster an unbiblical kind of fear and compromise when it comes to truth. Beware of theological wild-goose chases when Jesus’s commands are clearly set before us. We do not know the future, but we do know Jesus, who holds our future. 2. The strategy for believers is not to fear Satan but to stay alert to his schemes. Interestingly ...

1391. The Fellowship Offering

Leviticus 3:1-17

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Joe M. Sprinkle

... case, a large stone designated by Saul to serve as a simple altar—before consuming the meat. In other words, eating the flesh with the blood means eating the flesh without first pouring out the blood to God through sacrifice on an altar. With wild game not eligible to be fellowship offerings on the altar, Israelites had to pour out the blood on the ground like water; failure to do this was to “eat the blood” (Deut. 12:15–16). Through ritual slaughter Israelites acknowledged that God was the author ...

1392. The Horrific End of Nadab and Abihu

Leviticus 10:1-20

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Joe M. Sprinkle

... An essential part of Israel’s culture involved distinguishing between the holy and the common, the clean and the unclean (Lev. 10:10) in various realms. In the animal realm were clean animals that could be sacrificed on an altar, and clean animals (wild game, fish) that could be eaten but not sacrificed on an altar. Animals sacrificed on the altar became “holy.” Other clean animals were merely “common.” Unclean animals (Lev. 11) were not to be eaten or sacrificed. In the human realm priests were ...

1393. Unclean Animals

Leviticus 11:1-47

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Joe M. Sprinkle

... they are mud burrowers. However, health is at best a secondary reason for these laws. Not every animal was a health hazard: camels, for example, are a delicacy for Arabs to this day, and there is no evidence that they transmit disease to humans. Wild boars rarely have trichinosis, and the proper cooking of pork, in any case, makes its transmission to humans rare. Poisonous plants are not mentioned, which would be strange if health were the main purpose of these laws. Furthermore, some of the clean animals ...

1394. Purification from “Leprosy”

Leviticus 14:33-57, Leviticus 14:1-32

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... A “live animal” (hayyah) can refer to “free-living, untamed animals as distinct from domesticated animals.”1 There is no point in specifying a bird as “living,” since animals are assumed alive unless otherwise stated, so here it probably means “wild” (so ESVmg), though they are called “live” to underscore the life symbolism. “Fresh water” is literally “living water.” “Living water” refers to water from a spring or river that seems alive and is sweet as opposed to stagnant or ...

1395. The Choice: Obedience or Punishment

Lev 26:1-46

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... reverses the iron/bronze similes. 26:21 hostile. Hebrew qeri appears to be derived from qarah, “to meet, encounter.” Thus, qeri refers to Israel’s combative, stubborn opposition toward God, which God promises to reciprocate (cf. vv. 23–24, 27–28). 26:22 wild animals. Contrast verse 6. make you so few in number. Contrast verse 9 and the patriarchal seed promise of many descendants (e.g., Gen. 13:16; 15:5). 26:23–24 If . . . you do not accept correction . . . I myself will be hostile. The ...

1396. Making a Successful Future

Numbers 34:1-29

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Joe M. Sprinkle

... openly about the president’s struggle and his determination to overcome it. At the heart of his decision was a focus on the future. Looking forward, he realized that the man he would become was being determined by his actions in the present: “We had the wild drunken weekend and it was no different from any other weekend,” Laura Bush said of the trip the couple took with friends to Colorado Springs in 1986. “George just woke up and he knew he wanted to quit,” she said. “And he stopped and he was ...

1397. David’s Faith Ignites a Victory

1 Samuel 17:1-58

Teach the Text

Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

... weaponry (javelin [or perhaps scimitar],9spear, and sword; cf. vv. 6–7, 47, 51) is designed for fighting at close quarters. (2) Saul tries to outfit David with his armor and sword, as if expecting a hand-to-hand struggle. (3) David’s reference to fighting wild animals at close range hints that he might fight Goliath in the same way. (4) Goliath’s movements (v. 41) and challenge, “Come to me” (v. 44), suggest that he is expecting a close-range conflict. The text makes it clear that Goliath does not ...

1398. Zophar Rejects Job’s Complaints

Job 11:1-20

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Daniel J. Estes

... Job, not to humiliate him as Zophar does. 11:12 the witless can no more become wise. In this verse, Zophar likely uses an ancient proverb to drive home his point that it is impossible for a stubborn person like Job to become wise, just as a wild donkey cannot give birth to a human. By this cheap rhetorical shot, Zophar as much as calls Job an incorrigible idiot who cannot attain wisdom. He implies that Job functions at below the human level. 11:13–14 if you devote your heart to him. Zophar here ...

1399. Job Feels Both Confidence and Terror

Job 23:1--24:25

Teach the Text

Daniel J. Estes

... have reduced the poor to abject destitution rather than using their resources to assist those in need, as he has done (cf. 29:14–16). As a result, the poor are reduced to having to forage in the wasteland for their sustenance as though they are wild animals, even though there is very little food to be found there for their hungry children. 24:9–11 the infant of the poor is seized for a debt. In several ancient Near Eastern cultures, children could serve as collateral for their father’s loan, and ...

1400. Job Hears the Whispers of God’s Works

Job 26:1--31:40

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Daniel J. Estes

... (28:5). 28:7–11 No bird of prey knows that hidden path. It is hard to imagine seeing better or farther than a falcon, but humans surpass even the keen-sighted birds of prey as they search for wealth. None of the four kinds of wild animals cited in verses 7–8 has gone to the lengths that humans have in their attempt to find wisdom. Although humans seek throughout the whole world in their diligent search, they will inevitably return disappointed. 28:12 But where can wisdom be found? Although humans ...

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