Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1726 to 1750 of 2157 results

Song of Songs 2:1-17

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Huwiler

... with the comparison of the man to a gazelle or stag (2:9) to form a link with the call to the man to be like a gazelle or stag on the hills (2:17). Thus it is appropriate to read the entire passage as a unit. The woman’s version of the man’s speech begins and ends with “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, [and] come with me” (2:10, 13). The man’s reference to his lover’s “voice” (Hb. qôl, 2:14) recalls her reference to his voice/sound (NIV “Hark!” Hb. qôl, 2:8 ...

1727. Sin and Punishment

Jeremiah 8:4--9:26

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... eyes a fountain of tears). There are not enough tears for the devastation that has come on his people. Additional Notes 8:18 This verse presents major difficulties in the Hebrew as can be witnessed by the chaotic interpretations offered by the ancient versions. The NIV takes the verse as a bicolon, but it is better taken as a tricolon (see Lundbom, Jeremiah, p. 530 and Holladay, Jeremiah 1, p. 288). One minor emendation (ʿale repointed to ʿaloy) leads to the following translation: My cheerfulness is gone ...

1728. Threat of Captivity

Jeremiah 13:15-27

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... another nation, say Edom, was already taking advantage of Judah’s problems. 13:20 With Lundbom (Jeremiah 1–20, p. 682), we understand this verse to conclude the present oracle rather than introduce the next one, as many other commentators and versions understand it. The written (ketib—as opposed to the spoken qoreʾ) Hebrew uses imperatives in the feminine, and thus addresses the queen mother. Some (Fretheim, Jeremiah, p. 210) believe that the feminine is used in reference to Jerusalem as “mother ...

1729. Day of Disaster

Jeremiah 16:1--17:18

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... of those who persecute him) or the day of the nation’s despair (that will arrive with the Babylonian army). It is probably the former, since the rest of the prayer calls on God to bring his judgment against his enemies. Additional Notes 17:16 Many other versions and commentaries take the same tack as the NIV in rendering the first colon as a statement that Jeremiah did not avoid his role as a shepherd. However, it is more in keeping what we know about Jeremiah as well as the form of the verb ʾws to ...

1730. Lying Prophets

Jeremiah 23:9-32, Jeremiah 23:33-40

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... . See W. E. Lemke, “The Near and Distant God: A Study of Jer 23:23–24 in its Biblical Theological Context,” JBL 100 (1981), pp. 541–55. 23:33 Massaʾ (oracle) was formerly translated “burden,” by commentators who followed the ancient versions (Greek, Peshitta, Vulgate) and attended to the noun’s etymology (from the verb nsʾ, “to lift up”), but J. A. Naude (“Massaʾ in the Old Testament,” Proceedings of Die Ou-Testamentiese Werkgemeenskap in Suid-Afrika12 [1969], pp. 91–100), among ...

1731. Jehoiakim Burns Jeremiah’s Scroll

Jeremiah 36:1-32

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... Baruch functions here too as Jeremiah’s scribe by first writing down in the new scroll what Jeremiah dictated to him. Again, this does not necessarily indicate the first writing down of the oracles, since Jeremiah might have been reading previously written down versions of the oracles. But Jeremiah has already been restricted (I am restricted; I cannot go to the LORD’s temple) in terms of his movements presumably because of his challenging words and actions. He is not allowed to go into the temple area ...

1732. How Deserted Lies the City

Lamentations 1:1-22

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... passage, the perspective is from the victim. Such a perspective elicits more sympathy even though it is clear that this is a well-deserved punishment. 1:12 The phrase translated is it nothing to you? is literally rendered only “not to you.” Some versions think that the text is so disturbed that they leave it untranslated (NAB; NJB). Provan (Lamentations, p. 48) believes it should be rendered something like “is it not for you?” in the sense that this devastation has happened as an example for those ...

1733. The Lord's Plan

Micah 4:6-13

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... of “master.” Having put down all foes, Yahweh Adonai will reign supreme over all the nations of the world. Such is the biblical vision of the God’s future kingdom. Additional Note 4:13 You will devote: The MT of the Hb. reads “I will devote,” but all of the versions emend the verb to the second person sing.

1734. The Lord’s Anger Against Nineveh

Nahum 1:1-15

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... the devil, “Belial,” but this usage is not otherwise known in the OT and hardly applies here. 1:15 The MT makes this the first verse of a new chapter, and for 1:15–2:13, printed Hebrew Bibles enumerate the verses as 2:1–14. More likely the English versions are right to take v. 15 as the end of ch. 1.

1735. Habakkuk’s Prayer

Habakkuk 3:1-19

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... headings about using psalms came to be part of the Psalms’ text. It is indeed a plausible idea that such a poem could be abstracted from the prophecy in order to be used in worship, as happened with the song of Daniel’s three friends in the longer version of Daniel 3 in the Septuagint and with the song of Mary in Luke 1, which came to be used, respectively, as the Benedicite and the Magnificat in Christian worship. It is also a plausible idea that this poem of Habakkuk’s would then have such rubrics ...

1736. The Man Among Myrtle Trees

Zechariah 1:7-17

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

... a pastoral purpose to keep hope and faithfulness alive in any circumstances. They provide a new spiritual discipline involving sight, memory, and imagination. For example, in the sixth vision report the prophet says he saw a flying scroll, a fantastic visionary version of a fairly common sight. This scroll brought the Lord’s justice to hidden places. The report brings God’s renewed promise, but it also provides a means to reevaluate the authority of ordinary legal documents. Imperial subjects knew the ...

1737. The Gold Lampstand and the Two Olive Trees

Zechariah 4:1-14

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

... divine council Zechariah had not been asleep, but the angel/messenger had to rouse him forcibly, as a man is wakened from his sleep. 4:2–5 In this fifth vision, Zechariah saw a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top. Excavations have discovered pottery versions of this sort of lamp stand in which a tubular base supports a reservoir of oil. The rim of this bowl holds seven lights on it, with seven channels to the lights. The lamps were small bowls, with spouts for the wicks pinched in their rims. (The ...

1738. The Flying Scroll

Zechariah 5:1-4

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

... worships other gods. This curse can refer to a legal method for bringing justice against an unknown person. An ʾalah placed on an unknown person who had stolen silver brought the thief out into the open (Judg. 17:2). Numbers 5:11–31 describes a more complicated version of this procedure as a way of resolving suspicion against a wife suspected of adultery. The priest puts the woman under an oath (Num. 5:21), but the oath is also written down and then the ink washed off to become one of the ingredients in ...

1739. A Crown for Joshua

Zechariah 6:9-15

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

... of the temple. Everything was in place, yet he was not the expected one. Surely Zerubbabel should have been the Messiah! Recent interpreters have not been immune to this impulse. Many of them have proposed that Zerubbabel was crowned in an earlier version of this sign-act and oracle but, when he did not become king, the passage was revised. This commissioning passage does address the questions raised by unfulfilled Zerubbabel hopes. Its answer is typical of the book—the promise will be fulfilled, but ...

1740. Justice and Mercy, Not Fasting

Zechariah 7:1-14

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

... the priests and prophets there, their journey was a return to the Lord. The journey, then, is emblematic of the reunion of the northern and southern Israelite tribes (Zech. 10:6–9). The two personal names, Sharezer and Regem-Melech, are Hebrew versions of Babylonian names. (Zerubbabel is also a Babylonian name.) They personify the return of Jews from Babylonian exile, and they anticipate the promise in 8:20–23 that people would come from afar to worship the Lord in Jerusalem. A Sermon: Retrospective ...

1741. The Lord Removes Falsehood

Zechariah 13:1-6

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

... around his waist” (2 Kgs. 1:8), and Samuel could be recognized by the robe he wore (1 Sam. 28:14). To wear such a robe would be to put on a . . . garment of hair in order to deceive, as Jacob had done (Gen. 25:25). Using a revised version of Amos’s disclaimer (Amos 7:14), future prophets will claim to be farmers rather than prophets. Genesis 2:5 and 15 imply that God created human beings to till the ground. In an economy where almost everyone was a farmer, the prophet’s denial in verse 5 will mean ...

1742. The Day of Judgment

Malachi 2:17--3:5

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

... ’s self as “the Lord,” but who is the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire? He may be the same as “my messenger.” The best solution is to recognize that verses 1–5 describe twice what is to come, first briefly and then at length. The short version is in the first part of verse 1: God’s messenger will prepare the way and then the Lord will come. The second telling explains what each one will do. The messenger of the covenant (v. 1b) will refine and purify the Levites (vv. 2–4), and then ...

1743. A Grayhound and a Kite

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... need to witness to the presence of God in the world. Our lesson for the day from the second chapter of Acts demonstrates the Holy Spirit in action. You know the story well. The day of Pentecost had come. The disciples were all in one place. The King James Version says they were “in one place with one accord.” I’ll remind you of the old joke about the little boy who told the story of Pentecost and said that when the Holy Spirit came the disciples were all crammed into a Honda. That is because the Bible ...

1744. Jesus Talks with a Samaritan Woman

John 4:1-26, John 4:27-38, John 4:39-42

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... people of Jerusalem will still be asking, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly” (10:24). Yet long before, in a small Samaritan village, the secret is already out! Jesus’ acceptance of this woman’s version of messiahship is probably to be explained by the prophetic or teaching role she assigns to her Messiah. The statement that when he comes, he will explain everything (v. 25) anticipates the language of Jesus’ promise of the Spirit to his disciples in the ...

1745. Jesus and Those Who “Believed”

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

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... this statement was made and still had not regained it when the Gospel was written. Though not exactly in slavery, Israel was by no means free of foreign domination. 8:34 A slave to sin: The words to sin are missing in a few ancient manuscripts and versions. It is not hard to see why some ancient scribes omitted these words. The emphasis of the verse is on the metaphor of slavery as such, not on that to which one is enslaved. But the stronger manuscript evidence favors the longer reading. The slavery here is ...

1746. The Pharisees Investigate the Healing

John 9:13-34

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... actual situation near the end of Jesus’ ministry. 9:24 Give glory to God. The expression is used as an idiom to reinforce truthfulness (as, e.g., in Josh. 7:19); cf. GNB. 9:27 And you did not listen: One ancient papyrus and some ancient versions omit the negative, so as to read, “I told you … and you heard.” This reading prepares logically for what follows (Why do you want to hear it again?), but the reading in the NIV has better manuscript support and echoes Jesus’ own words in similar situations ...

1747. The Shepherd and His Flock

John 10:1-21

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... 9:34–35, but the parallel is probably coincidental. There is no particular intent here to contrast the “pastoral care” of Jesus with the harsh discipline of the Pharisees. 10:7 I am the gate for the sheep. One ancient papyrus and certain ancient versions read “the shepherd of the sheep.” This reading seems to have resulted from scribes being misled by the contrast with “thieves and robbers” into assuming that the shepherd must be in view here. But gate is correct. 10:8 Before me: These words ...

1748. The Unbelief of the Jews

John 10:22-42

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... sheep (based in section I specifically on his death), and (c) the shepherd’s ministry to his sheep (in section I a mission to “other sheep” and the achievement of unity; in section II the security and protection of the flock). Section II is a simplified version of section I, focusing on the safety of the sheep from harm or destruction (cf. vv. 9–12) and using this to illustrate the work carried out in common by the Father and the Son. In chapter 5 the principle that “my Father is always working ...

1749. The Death of Lazarus

John 11:1-16, John 11:17-37

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... to his readers, a story from the last week of Jesus’ ministry that (in one form or another) they had heard ever since they first heard the Gospel (cf. Mark 14:3–9, esp. v. 9). Did they remember the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet (or, in some versions, his head)? The friend who was sick was her brother! The identification gives the reader of John’s Gospel a point of reference for what follows. Unlike the sick man at Bethesda, this sick man has a name and an identity. The reader cares from the start ...

1750. The Impending Departure I

John 14:1-4, John 14:5-14, John 14:15-31

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... hope for the future: “Trust God and trust me; this is what will happen, and there is no cause for fear.” 14:2 In my Father’s house are many rooms: The “many mansions” of the AV has been changed in most modern versions because of the incongruity of “mansions” within a house. Rooms is literally “dwelling places” (Gr.: monai), the original meaning of “mansion” (from the Latin manere, “to dwell”); cf. Jesus’ promise in v. 23 that he and the Father will come and “make our home ...

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