Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 176 to 200 of 1285 results

Nahum 1:1-15

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... release of the Judeans from exile, illustrating the principle that Nahum’s words do not relate merely to the single event of the fall of Nineveh. Additional Notes 1:1 Oracle: massaʾ can also mean “burden” and Jer. 23:33–38 plays with the word’s double meaning, but in general the use of the word to mean a prophetic pronouncement does not imply that connotation, and BDB assumes there are two separate words. 1:2 In the last line, there is no Heb. word for “his wrath”; the NIV plausibly assumes ...

177. The Flying Scroll

Zechariah 5:1-4

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

... flying scroll. The scroll in Zechariah’s vision differs from known ancient examples in that it is apparently written on both sides (on one side . . . on the other), like the scroll that Ezekiel ate (Ezek. 2:10, panim weʾakhor). Ezekiel’s double-sided scroll was full of lamentation, mourning, and woe. Zechariah’s scroll carried a curse. The measurements of the visionary scroll correspond to specific features of Solomon’s temple. The profile of the pair of cherubim overlooking the ark of the covenant ...

178. God’s Love and Ours

1 John 4:7-21, 1 John 5:1-12

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

... in everyday life. No one has ever seen God, it is true, but if we love one another, we and others experience the presence of God. Verse 12 expresses this result of love for one another in two ways (i.e., the “if clause” in v. 12 has a double “then clause”): (a) God comes to dwell among us, and (b) God’s love is perfected among us. First, when we love one another (the author continues to have in mind primarily love among Christians within the community, which his opponents do not have, 2:9–11; 3 ...

179. Jacob Blesses His Sons

Genesis 49:1-28

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... (35:22; 1 Chron. 5:1–2). By underscoring the term “bed,” Jacob expressed the shame he felt because of what Reuben had done. This act was so repulsive that Jacob took away from Reuben the rights of the firstborn—leadership of the family and a double share of the inheritance. In the settlement Reuben occupied land in the central Transjordan (Josh. 13:15–23). This tribe was the first to disappear from the league, even before the rise of kingship in Israel. 49:5–7 Jacob addressed Simeon and Levi as ...

180. Marriage Violations

Deuteronomy 22:13-30

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... deterrent to a false charge. A man who viciously tries to get rid of an unloved wife by this means (and presumably reclaim the bridal gift he had paid to the father) faces a whipping (implied by take the man and punish him, v. 18), a fine that is double the average bridal gift (cf. v. 29), and the loss of any right of subsequent divorce. The law is thus a strongly protective measure for a young wife at her most vulnerable. It not only defends her good name (vv. 14, 19) but also provides for her future ...

181. Israel's Sin and the Servant's Obedience

Isaiah 50:1-11

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... as 49:1–6), but here the destiny of Zion and the way the destiny of the Babylonian community relates to it (51:1–52:12 as 49:7–50:3) receive more attention. The first subsection introduces a motif that runs through the section: there are four double occurrences of the verb “waken/awake” (50:4; 51:9, 17; 52:1). There is no reason to resist taking the obvious view that the “I” in 50:4–9 is the prophet, as in 40:1–6. Before the notion of “servant songs” sidetracked the interpretation of ...

182. Praise and Prayer

Isaiah 63:7--64:12

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... 9), though also like an eagle (Exod. 19:4; Deut. 32:10–13). 63:10–11a Here arises a “but,” in a sense a double one, or even a triple one. On the people’s part there was the falsehood that Yahweh was not expecting. They rebelled. This is the ... of her insides and her womb do not depend on whether her offspring deserve them (see commentary). Indeed, the prophet plays double or nothing with the question about affrontery. Parents—and children too—are sometimes inclined to assume that it is the fault ...

183. The Path of Discipleship

Mark 8:31--9:1

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... and so has special force, picturing the condemned prisoner as he carried the beam to the place of execution. No other metaphor could carry such horrifying force, since it was also a “curse” to the Jew (Gal. 3:13 = Deut. 21:23). There is a double meaning here, as it is a powerful metaphor for dying to self (reinforcing the first aspect) but also means imitatio Christi, joining Jesus on his way to the cross, living a life of God-commitment, self-sacrifice, and possibly of martyrdom. (3) Following Jesus is ...

184. Jesus Proclaims Judgment on the Temple and the Nation

Mark 13:1-31

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... primarily as a future prophecy of the antichrist figure who would appear at the final chapter in human history (2 Thess. 2:3–4; 1 John 2:18; Rev. 13:1–10).3I think it likely that, in keeping with the discourse, there is a double fulfillment, first of Roman desecration when the temple was destroyed, then of the activity of the final antichrist in the future. standing where it does not belong. The Greek text has a masculine participle and should be translated “standing where he should not.” This could ...

185. God’s Saving Righteousness and the Restoration of Israel

Romans 3:21-31

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

... Torah (v. 27a) versus the principle of justification by faith (v. 27b). Many commentators who take nomos here either as the law of Moses (v. 27a) and the principle of faith (v. 27b) or as the law of Moses in both cases miss the antithetical parallelism and the double meaning of nomos in 3:27: Verse 27a: principle (nomos) of works (of the Torah) (cf. v. 28b) versus Verse 27b: principle (nomos) of faith (cf. v. 28a) On this reading, in 3:27–28 Paul is summarizing his argument in 1:18–3:26: no individual ...

186. Israel and the Present Curses and the Past Blessings of the Covenant

Romans 9:1-29

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

... Jews not Ishmael/Arabs, and Jacob/Israel not Esau/Edom, and Moses/Israel not Pharaoh/Egypt. And it was up to each individual to decide whether or not to align with God’s corporate people. In the New Testament, God chose Christ to be the savior, and double predestination was fulfilled in him: God’s wrath for sinners was poured out on Christ on the cross, so that God’s mercy could be poured out on those same sinners. One can see from this that those who hold the corporate understanding of election claim ...

187. Many Parts, One Body

1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

... saying is adaptable to spiritual gifts: “If a believer exercises a spiritual gift in a vacuum and there is no one there to be edified, is the ‘gift’ either spiritual or exercised?” Visual: Bring two long, double-dutch jump ropes. Assert that you have some incredible jump rope skills and are going to do some sweet double-dutch moves, then try to work the ropes by yourself. If you are good at physical comedy, this could be pretty involved. Try to twirl the two ropes from one end, then run over and try ...

188. Message to Thyatira

Revelation 2:18-29

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations . . . I will also give that one the morning star. An overcomer is a person who does God’s will to the end of their life, and Jesus now offers the overcomers in Thyatira a double promise. First, they will be given “authority over the nations,” to “rule” over them with an iron scepter and dash them like pottery (Ps. 2:8–9; Rev. 19:15). The term “nations” often has a negative connotation in Revelation (e.g., 11:2, 18; 19:15; 20 ...

189. Holiness of Priests

Lev 21:1–23:2

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... (Lev. 11:29–31), or eating something that has died on its own or has been killed by predators (Lev. 7:24; 17:15). 22:9 The priests are to . . . not become guilty. “Become guilty,” or more literally, “bear sin” (ESV), is perhaps a double entendre involving both culpability and liability to punishment, namely, death (“cut off” [v. 3]), if they ignore their rules of holiness. 22:10–13 No one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offering. Only priests or their families can eat the ...

190. “Your Sin Will Find You Out”: The Lord Confronts His Sinful Servant

2 Samuel 12:1-31

Teach the Text

Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

... there is one who has authority even over the king. Displeased with David’s actions (11:27), the Lord “sent” his prophet Nathan to confront David.1 12:3 and even slept in his arms. The description of the little lamb is dripping with irony and double meaning. The man would let the lamb sleep in his arms. Nathan uses the word shakab, “sleep, lie down,” the same verb used to describe how David “slept” with Bathsheba (11:4). The poor man’s lamb was “like a daughter to him.” The word bat ...

191. Job Comes to a Good End

Job 42:7-17, Job 42:1-6

Teach the Text

Daniel J. Estes

... Job receives belated consolation and encouragement. 42:12–17 And so Job died, an old man and full of years. Yahweh doubles Job’s animals over what he had before his calamity (42:10, 12). He also gives to Job seven more sons and three especially lovely ... daughters (42:13–15). Job goes on to live 140 years (double the typical life expectancy cited in Ps. 90:10), and he sees his great-grandchildren (42:16). With language that echoes the experiences ...

192. “In the Lord I Take Refuge”

Psalm 11:1-7

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... ” is a violation of the ninth commandment (Deut. 5:20 [shaw’]; cf. Exod. 20:16 [sheqer]). The phrase “harbor deception in their hearts” is literally “with a heart and a heart,” which means “double-minded.” The Septuagint translates the expression quite literally (“with heart and with heart”). The Greek dipsychos (“double-minded”) of James 1:8 and 4:8 (it does not occur in the LXX or elsewhere in the NT)[5] renders the sense of this expression quite well. However, for James it is ...

193. “The Lord Is My Light and My Salvation—Whom Shall I Fear?”

Psalm 27:1-14

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... forward toward a reality that the salvation from his enemies portends in a better day.[19] 27:14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. This urgent admonition to “be strong and take heart,” sandwiched between the double “wait for the Lord,” recalls the words of Moses to Joshua (see the sidebar). Compare with Isaiah 40:31 (see ESV). See “Theological Insights” in the unit on Psalm 25. Theological Insights The association of God with light (27:1) is a theme that ...

194. Nebuchadnezzar’s Judgment and Repentance

Daniel 4:28-37

Teach the Text

Ronald W. Pierce

... could pass (each four miles long with defense towers), and the lush Hanging (“terraced”) Gardens, built for Nebuchadnezzar’s Median wife Amytis to remind her of her homeland (Josephus, Ant. 10.11.1; Ag. Ap. 1.19). Its eight gates included a double gate dedicated to the fertility goddess Ishtar, leading to Marduk’s temple and a three-hundred-foot ziggurat. The thousand-yard Procession Way was lined on both sides with enameled brick walls showing 120 lions (symbols of Ishtar), as well as 575 dragons ...

195. Security Clearance

1 Kings 2:1-46

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... (2:19–25) that takes place while both are seated on royal thrones, she undersells the “small” request of Adonijah (which is anything but). Solomon’s reaction is aggressive: he interprets the proposition as treasonous and unleashes a rare double oath toward Adonijah. The double oath is ironic. Adonijah previously wanted an oath from Solomon and was denied; now he gets a twofold portion. Benaiah—who did not attend Adonijah’s party in chapter 1—is summoned to carry out the death sentence, and ...

196. The Year of the Lord's Favor

Isaiah 61:1-11

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... priests of the living God, while others take care of menial tasks. Spiritual benefits are mixed with God’s concern for physical well-being. The people have been disgraced in exile, but they are assured that they will have a double portion in the land. The Lord knows that his people have suffered double for all of their sins (Isa. 40:2), and he gives back what they have missed during the exile. The purpose of the acceptable year of the Lord is to prepare the Lord’s people for the fullness of redemption ...

197. Orderly Worship

1 Corinthians 14:26-40

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... the recognition that what Paul is saying is from the Lord. According to Paul’s declaration, to differ with Paul would be proof that one was not a prophet or spiritually gifted. Paul places potential opponents who might claim special spiritual powers in a double bind—to disagree would be to call one’s gifts into question, and to agree would be to take Paul’s position as inspired and correct. This assertion is a rhetorical trap, designed to win a full hearing and compliance with the directions given ...

198. Instruction for Temple Entry

Psalm 15:1-5

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... themselves and depart, before God’s holiness judges and consumes them (again the view of the Lord’s Supper in 1 Cor. 11:27–32 is no less solemn). At issue here is not merely entry into a building but survival. The sentiment of the initial double question is not “Whom should we allow in?” but “Who dares enter in?” The purpose is not to safeguard God, the temple, or the sacred community; it is to safeguard the individual and his or her survival. These qualifications are not a checklist but a ...

199. Praise in the Mouth and a Sword in the Hand

Psalm 149:1-9

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... benefit (the LORD takes delight in his people) and the other is for how he benefits his people (he crowns the humble with salvation). 149:6–9 In an otherwise wonderful collection of hymnody (Pss. 145–150), these verses sound particularly unpleasant. The image of a double-edged sword in their hands draws readers of the Bible to think of Nehemiah, who ensured that “each of the builders [of Jerusalem’s walls] wore his sword at his side as he worked” (Neh. 4:13, 18). But the sword in this psalm is to ...

200. Boasting

2 Corinthians 11:16-33, 2 Corinthians 1:1-11, 2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... 13). To mention the receipt of support from other sources may also have exacerbated the situation, demonstrating once again how double-minded and inconsistent Paul really was (cf. 1:17). Second, Paul claims to have robbed (or “plundered”) these other ... and probably did not boast in such things themselves (cf. 5:12). The fact that Paul does so is part of the double “foolishness” of the section. With respect to literary form, this section constitutes a tribulation catalogue (see on 4:8–9). In 6 ...

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