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 2176 to 2200 of 4943 results

2176. Final Greetings

1 Peter 5:12-14

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... citizenship (2:13–17). Peter’s motive in using Babylon to mean Rome is homiletic. Babylon in the OT was notorious as the place of exile. Now all Christians, whether Jewish or Gentile, are, as it were, exiles so far as the world in which they live is concerned, as Peter pointed out in his opening greeting (1:1), and later (2:11). The Christians in Rome with Peter as he writes and the Christians in Asia Minor to whom his letter is addressed share the same status: their true home is in heaven. Peter also ...

2177. Making One's Calling and Election Sure

2 Peter 1:1-11

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... Greek verb translated nearsighted is very rare and occurs in the NT only here. It refers to the screwing up of the eyes against the light. If we keep to the Greek order, the sense is evidently that to lack the qualities listed means that the one concerned demonstrates spiritual blindness, for what he has done is to screw up his eyes against spiritual light and to refuse to face up to what divine revelation has put before him. It is equally true to experience that Peter is meaning such an individual is blind ...

2178. A Call to Persevere

Jude 1:17-25

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... and omits v. 22: “Snatch some from the fire, but on those who dispute/doubt have mercy with fear.” In view of Jude’s predilection for arranging his material in threes (see vv. 2, 4, 5–7, 8, 11), the original text may well have concerned three classes of people. This is the view taken by NIV, and follows the recommendation of Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament (New York/London: United Bible Societies, 3rd ed. 1971), pp. 727–29. 22 Those who doubt (diakrinomenous): The ...

2179. Moses Flees to Midian

Exodus 2:11-25

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... he has been an alien, meaning in Egypt. Now he is content. It could also imply the irony that he is at home as a stranger in Midian (only the NIV translates the phrase “I have become”). This theme will echo, especially in God’s laws concerning resident aliens (e.g., “Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt,” 22:21). “Ger” is also a play on the sound of the actual root of “Gershom,” garash that means “driven out.” Gershom is a pun anticipating the creation ...

2180. Bricks Without Straw

Exodus 5:1-21

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... second statement (v. 3) is also more specific about the “festival”: “Now let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God.” This six-day round-trip would have involved taking livestock for sacrifices. Moses added his concern (which the attack in 4:24 proved was legitimate) that God might assail them with plagues or with the sword if they didn’t go. (The word “strike” in the NIV is not from nakah, but pagaʿ, “assail”; see the comments at 5:14.) The ...

2181. The Passover

Exodus 12:1-30

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... month first in importance, or prominence, since it was the beginning of the Lord’s establishing Israel as a people. Moses was to address the whole community and detail the instructions for organizing and planning the meal. “No waste” was a central concern, and the meal was organized with neighbors eating together. The larger groups were to organize themselves by proximity to the nearest neighbor rather than by extended families. Even how much each person will eat was of consequence to the Lord. Verse ...

2182. The Tent of Meeting

Exodus 33:7-11

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... experience and says, “Have I really seen God and remained alive after seeing him?” (Gen. 16:13; RSV). The seventy elders also saw the God of Israel (see comment on 24:10), yet “God did not raise his hand against these leaders” (24:11). We witness the same concern over seeing someone and speaking to the Lord in Judges 6:22–23 and 13:22. God remained free to make exceptions to the rule, and allowed these people to live (24:10–11; see Num. 12:8; Deut. 34:10; Ezek. 1:26–28). Fretheim comes to ...

2183. Eastern Tribes Return Home

Joshua 22:1-34

Understanding Series

J. Gordon Harris

... him now? (22:16). They equate the building of the altar with the people’s immorality and idolatry at Peor and Achan’s violation of the ban at Jericho. They are afraid that this altar will anger God, who will then punish everyone. They seem concerned for their own preservation as much as that the altar violates the command that Israel worship only in one place. Western leaders blame and shame the eastern tribes. 22:22–25 Eastern leaders respond graciously and in humility: The Mighty One, God, the LORD ...

2184. Israel Fights the Remaining Canaanites

Judges 1:1-36

Understanding Series

Cheryl A. Brown

... why his story is repeated. Here he is introduced, appropriately, as a courageous and competent warrior. Moreover, he married a woman of his own clan, an important value in a book whose author viewed exogamy and idolatry as going hand in hand. This is a concern of the Deuteronomic History, the story of Ahab and Jezebel perhaps being the most vivid example of this form of sin against the Lord (1 Kgs. 16:31–33). Finally, the theme of marriage appears again in Judges 21, thus forming an inclusio framing the ...

2185. Disobedience and Defeat

Judges 2:6-3:6

Understanding Series

Cheryl A. Brown

... covenant with the Lord at Shechem (Josh. 24). The text picks up nearly where the book of Joshua left off. Joshua 24:28 almost word for word corresponds to Judges 2:6. The section that follows (vv. 10–19) points to the author’s special concern with Israel’s spiritual condition in the generation after Joshua. What we have in these verses is a prime example of “second verse same as the first.” There is nothing new in this analysis of Israel’s spiritual history, and the repetition of events and ...

2186. Abimelech

Judges 9:1-57

Understanding Series

Cheryl A. Brown

... Baal-Berith.” 9:7–20 Listen to me so that God may listen to you: Davis (Such a Great Salvation, p. 123) agrees that this is the main point: “The parable does not stress the worthlessness of kingship but the worthlessness of Abimelech; the concern is not that the worthy candidates depreciate the offer of kingship but the character of the king and his cronies, as Jotham makes clear in vv. 16–20.” The two terms, “thornbush” (a close synonym) and “cedars of Lebanon,” also appear together in 2 ...

2187. Ruth Meets Boaz

Ruth 2:1-23

Understanding Series

Michael S. Moore

... This situation is similar to the one in the Gibeahite square (Judg. 19). In Ruth, an older man takes a young female stranger under his wing. In Judges 19, an older man shelters a young female stranger out of what looks to be fatherly concern for her safety. In Ruth, Boaz gathers information from several sources before speaking to Ruth. In Judges 19, the old Gibeahite immediately and frantically interrogates the Levite and his concubine, even before he finds out who she is (19:17). In Ruth, the house means ...

2188. Ruth and Boaz on the Threshing Floor

Ruth 3:1-18

Understanding Series

Michael S. Moore

... the responsibility of “seeking out” (baqash; see Ezek. 34:16) for Ruth a place of rest (see menukhah in 1:9). Not only does she believe that Ruth needs a home, she also believes it to be her responsibility to help her find it. Underscoring this parental concern, Tg translates this line, “I swear I shall not rest (l’ ’nykh) until the time when I claim for you a resting place (nykh’), in order that you might be happy” (Tg. Ruth 3:1). 3:2 Is not Boaz, with whose servant girls you have been ...

2189. The List of Exiles Who Returned

Ezra 2:1-70

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... 70 and was supplied to tie into the narrative context of the mission of chapter 1. In verse 69 the narrator has abbreviated the details of gifts supplied in Nehemiah 7:70–72. The longer listing in Nehemiah 7:70–72 already had a temple concern; this was fittingly adapted in Ezra to the single mission launched by Cyrus’ edict. While in Nehemiah 7 the contributions were for the ongoing work of maintaining worship, here they are for building the temple. We are probably to discern a further exodus parallel ...

2190. Rebuilding the Altar

Ezra 3:1-6

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... high priest is here placed before the governor in recognition of the religious nature of the task. Verses 2–3 function as a flashback. The building of the altar logically precedes the sacrifices in verse 6 and so, implicitly, verse 1. The text reflects a concern to do the sacrificing correctly. For the postexilic community this meant adopting the Law of Moses, the Torah, as the script for their worship. It is hailed as the basis not for building the altar but for the regular burnt offerings made each day ...

2191. Tattenai's Letter to Darius

Ezra 5:1-17

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... of an older oracle, as in 1:1, but now by means of immediate access to the divine will through contemporary prophets. The narrator integrated their ministry into his earlier story by associating it with the letter of Tattenai, sent in the same period and also concerned with building the temple. The prophet’s records themselves are related only to “the second year of the reign of Darius” (4:24; Hag. 1:1; Zech. 1:1), namely, the year 520 in the case of Haggai and the period 520–518 in Zechariah’s ...

2192. The Decree of Darius

Ezra 6:1-12

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... . Here the narrator noted the appointment of temple staff in the categories he knew in his own period, tracing them back to the Torah. The reference is a general one, to such passages as Exodus 29 and Leviticus 8 concerning the ordination of priests, and to Numbers 3, 8, and 18 concerning the ordination and duties of Levites. In the twin celebrations of verses 16–22, one specific and the other seasonal, the keynote is joy, sounded at beginning and at the end. This joy expresses the fervor of the community ...

2193. List of the Family Heads Returning With Ezra

Ezra 8:1-14

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... and revocalized “his brother” in the MT—both on the evidence of 1 Esd. 8:48 and the Vulgate, or Jerome’s Latin translation of the OT (see BHS). But one expects a reference to Levites in kinsmen. Iddo was probably a Levite, and Levites were Ezra’s primary concern. The text of 1 Esd. also has “and” between the two terms, again easily lost. Then the two groups mentioned in the listing of vv. 18–20 are introduced here. 8:18 The clan of Mahli was part of the division of Merari (Num. 3:33; 1 Chr ...

2194. Nehemiah’s Prayer

Nehemiah 1:1-11

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... rebuilding. At any rate, the mission of Nehemiah is the satisfying ending to the sad story of Ezra 4:23. Nehemiah’s family links with Jerusalem, described in his response to the king in 2:3, explain his concern. Yet the religious statement about Jerusalem in verse 9 suggests that this concern probably went deeper; later in this book it is depicted as no less than “the holy city” (11:1, 18), a place of venerable mystique that tugged at every Judean’s heartstrings. Nehemiah’s open reactions of grief ...

2195. Nehemiah Helps the Poor

Nehemiah 5:1-19

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... minus contracted interest, or of accrued interest, by repaying the amount of the loan with added interest. Yet it was frequently practiced, as such texts as Ps. 15:5; Prov. 28:8 imply. In this case interest played a minor role according to v. 11, and the major concerns were loss of pledges and debt slavery. 5:8 For foreign slave trading, esp. in prisoners of war, see Ezek. 27:13; Joel 3:3–7. The redemption of Israelite slaves from foreigners is advocated in Lev. 25:47–48. Only for them to be sold back ...

2196. The Agreement of the People

Neh 9:38–10:39

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... Deuteronomy 15:1–11 made an economic ruling for the remission of debts. The second ruling was intended to stop the recurrence of the problem encountered in Nehemiah 5. Both were measures to improve the lot of the poor. 10:32–33 The fourth stipulation concerns an annual temple tax. Since this temple tax is being instituted, we can assume that the Persian financial support mentioned in Ezra 6:9–10; 7:21–24 was temporary or insufficient, perhaps blocked by the satrapy treasurer. Exodus 30:11–16 set a ...

2197. Queen Vashti Deposed

Esther 1:1-22

Understanding Series

Timothy S. Laniak

... literally, “the royal house that belonged to King Xerxes.” She forgot the source and owner of her possessions and status. In response, the king strips her of these prerogatives (v. 19). Chapter 1 is full of references to royal honor, a concern central to the plot. Rank and status are highlighted throughout the banquets and the Vashti ordeal. The king indulges himself in self-honoring, only to have it backfire when he pushes too far. The visible distinctions among persons surrounding Xerxes—and the ...

2198. Mordecai Persuades Esther to Help

Esther 4:1-17

Understanding Series

Timothy S. Laniak

... ; 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 be safe. (Esther will tell the king in 7:4 ...

2199. Haman Hanged

Esther 7:1-10

Understanding Series

Timothy S. Laniak

... Esther was an exile, and ethnic populations were bought and sold in the ancient world. Possibly Haman’s bribe was compensation for not selling the Jews as slaves or for the loss of Jewish taxes to the king’s treasury. In any case, Esther is expressing her concern for the king’s monetary interests up to the point of her life. In so doing, she shames the king into action. 7:8 They covered Haman’s face: Clothing and covering are important indices of status and status change in Esther. In chapter 4, the ...

2200. Proverbs of Solomon

Proverbs 16:1-33

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

... , although secondary causes are not to be ruled out. 16:8 A “better” saying that is practically identical with 15:16 (see also 17:1; 28:6). Similar also is Amenemope 9.5–8; 16.11–14 (ANET, pp. 422–23). The attitude of the sages concerning poverty is ambiguous. It could be the result of laziness or diligence—but the key value is a right relationship to God. 16:9 Antithetic. One has to reckon with the Lord between conceiving and carrying out an action. This emphasizes the gap between thought and ...

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