Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: Levi, disciple, evangelist, tax collector, the 12, the twelve, apostle, sermon on the mount, jewish audience, beatitudes, lord's prayer, great commission, parables, olivet discourse, mount of olives, olivet, synoptic

Showing 2301 to 2325 of 4942 results

2301. The List of Exiles Who Returned

Ezra 2:1-70

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

The Return of the True People of God: The text now informs us of the composition of the returnees, who duly set out and arrived in Judah and prepared to rebuild the temple. The narrator, writing considerably later than the events of the first mission, drew on this list, which appears again in Nehemiah 7:6–73a. First, Nehemiah found this list in the Jerusalem archives and incorporated it into his memoirs, but the narrator in Ezra did not find it in the archives or the memoirs, since he cited it along with ...

2302. List of the Family Heads Returning With Ezra

Ezra 8:1-14

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

Bringing Glory to the Temple: Ezra was given two mandates in chapter 7. The first was to lead a party of immigrants back to the homeland and to take along the sacred contributions of the Persian court, the Babylon satrapy, and Jews remaining in exile, and deliver them to the temple authorities in Jerusalem. This first assignment is accomplished here. Apart from the conclusion in verses 35–36, this section comes from the Ezra memoirs and falls into three parts: 7:28b–8:20; 21–30; and 31–34. Each part has a ...

2303. Warnings Against Folly

Proverbs 6:1-19

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

The first 19 verses of chapter 6 have the appearance of an errant block of exhortations. They interrupt the theme of sex, and they seem to be a miscellany of proverbs. 6:1–5 There is an almost frantic tone to this command against going surety for a neighbor. Such a warning against standing pledge for another is not rare (see 11:15; 17:18; 22:26–27, etc.). Ben Sira had a more relaxed and realistic attitude (cf. Sir. 29:14–20). The action is seen as a burden and snare, and every effort must be made ...

2304. Proverbs of Solomon

Proverbs 19:1-29

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

19:1 Antithetic comparison. Verses 1 and 2 are not in the LXX. The antithesis between blameless and perverse is clear, but not so for poor and fool. One would expect “rich” instead of fool. This is the reading of the apparent doublet in 28:6, adopted by many commentators and translations (NAB). 19:2 Synonymous. In Proverbs, hasty action is generally suspect (e.g., 21:5; 28:20; 29:20). It suggests aimless (if not evil) and unplanned activity. The meaning of verse 2b enables one to translate the difficult ...

2305. Proverbs of Solomon

Proverbs 20:1-30

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

20:1 Synthetic. Inebriation is condemned in 23:29–35 and 31:4–5. Here the drinks that produce it are personified: wine and strong drink (perhaps beer). 20:2 Synthetic. For verse 2a see 19:12a. The point of the comparison is the roar of a lion, which like royal wrath produces panic. The meaning of verse 2b is uncertain. 20:3 Antithetic. The idiomatic expression in verse 3a is literally, “sit (or dwell) from” (NIV, avoid). The precise meaning of Hebrew ytglʿ (quick to quarrel) is uncertain (cf. 17:24; 18:1 ...

2306. Proverbs of Solomon

Proverbs 22:1-16

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

22:1 Synonymous. A good name or reputation was highly regarded in Israel. This is underlined by the comparisons made (see also Eccl. 7:1). 22:2 Synthetic. The verb in verse 2a means either that they live near each other or better, as in the NIV, they have a common bond. The sense of verse 2b is descriptive, not prescriptive, as if the LORD created two classes. See 29:13 and also 14:31 and 17:5, which provide a certain context. 22:3 Antithetic. This verse occurs again in 27:12. The point is that the ...

2307. A Common Destiny for All

Ecclesiastes 9:1-12

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Huwiler

Destiny (9:1-10): This short section considers divine omnipotence and human limitations: everything is in God’s power, and humans have nothing but consciousness. Qohelet observes that there is a single fate for all people, a further specification of the theme developed concerning humans and animals in 3:18–22. Verses 7–10 comprise the longest version of Qohelet’s call to joy, typically tempered by context. The benefit of living is that one knows that one will die. The references to meaninglessness (or ...

2308. I Am a Rose of Sharon

Song of Songs 2:1-17

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Huwiler

The Lovers Together (2:1-7): As this section opens, the two lovers are clearly together: they become partners in dialogue. The woman and the man first exchange playful banter, then admiring comments. The admiration closes with the woman speaking to or about the man. She then speaks for the first time a verse which will recur. This verse is clear in imagery although not in time (2:6). Then there follows the first instance of another recurring verse, the adjuration to the daughters of Jerusalem (2:7). 2:1–7 ...

2309. Not One is Upright

Jeremiah 5:1-31

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

Poor and Great, All of Jerusalem Depraved (5:1-9): This oracle is a dialogue between Yahweh and Jeremiah. Yahweh first challenges Jeremiah to go out into Jerusalem to discover a single righteous person (5:1–2). Jeremiah then argues that the good people are among the leaders, not the poor who are in the streets. He is quickly disillusioned (5:3–6), and finally, on this basis, God proclaims that his coming judgment is just (5:7–9). 5:1–2 The challenge goes out, presumably to Jeremiah in the light of the ...

2310. Jerusalem Under Siege

Jeremiah 6:1-30

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

Jerusalem Attacked! (6:1-8): The oracles in chapter six continue the difficulty of distinguishing individual oracles. Fortunately, the major effect on the reader is not dependent on proper division of the text or accurate dating of the original setting of the oracles. A further difficulty is determining who is speaking. Subtle clues indicate whether it is Jeremiah or God. This too, however, is not a major obstacle to understanding the message, since Jeremiah, after all, is Yahweh’s spokesperson. We take 6: ...

2311. A Letter to the Exiles

Jeremiah 29:1-23

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

Letters to Babylon and Back: Chapters 27 and 28 describe a prophetic conflict concerning the status of the 597 B.C. exiles to Babylon and the future of those who remain behind. Jeremiah represented the view that the former would stay in exile and the latter were under judgment. Hananiah attacked Jeremiah and optimistically stated that all would end well in just a short period of time. The present chapter continues the same note of prophetic conflict. However, rather than two prophets in contact physically ...

2312. A Message About Egypt

Jeremiah 46:1-28

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

Oracles against the Nations: The next six chapters contain Jeremiah’s oracles against the nations. We are reminded that Jeremiah’s commission appointed him not just over Judah, but “over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant” (1:10). Similar types of oracles may be found in Isaiah 13–23; Ezekiel 25–32; Amos 1–2; Nahum, and Obadiah. Up to this point, his prophecies have been directed toward Judah announcing judgment against God’s people because they ...

2313. The Indictment and Punishment of Israel Spelled Out

Amos 4:1-13

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

The Indictment and Punishment of Israel Spelled Out: Introductory and summarizing material has been concluded. We now enter into the principal collection of Amos’s oracles, encompassing 3:13–6:14, interrupted by the visions and encounter with Amaziah in chapter 7 and 8:1–3, and resuming with 8:4–9:6. This section of 3:13–4:13 forms the first large unit in the collection. 4:1–3 Throughout history women have served as “decorations” for the rich and powerful. In Western society, the more beautiful the woman, ...

2314. A Promised Ruler from Bethlehem

Micah 5:1-4

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

The Future Messiah: In the previous chapter, 4:6–8 promised the return of a remnant to Zion, Yahweh’s rule over them, and the restoration of the Davidic throne. Then there followed with 4:9 a series of three oracles, each beginning with “now,” and each portraying Judah’s current desperate situation and Yahweh’s salvation yet to come. This passage, the third in the series, deals with the restoration of the Davidic throne in fulfillment of 2 Samuel 7:13. 5:1 The NIV has obscured the connection of this oracle ...

2315. Deliverance and Destruction

Micah 5:5-15

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

Delivery from Future Enemies (5:5-6): 5:5–6 The NIV has attached the first line of verse 5 to the foregoing oracle, but in order to do so, it has had to emend the line. The Hebrew does not say, And he will be their peace. Rather it reads, “And this shall be peace.” The line belongs with this oracle, though indeed “this” refers to the messianic figure of verses 2–4. There has been much scholarly discussion about the proper interpretation of this brief passage and its relation to 5:2–4. The plural verbs in ...

2316. The Lord’s Case Against Israel

Micah 6:1-8

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

Israel Called to Court: Chapter 6 begins the third section of the prophecies of Micah, each of which opens with an imperative to “hear.” The first “hear!” was a command to all the peoples of the earth (1:2), the second to the leaders of Israel (3:1). The third is now directed to the Israelite populace as a whole (6:1) and forms a command to listen to all that follows in chapters 6–7. Scholars differ as to whether 6:1–8 is a unit or whether two separate oracles, verses 1–5 and 6–8, are involved. Certainly ...

2317. The Promised Glory of the New House

Haggai 2:1-9

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

September: The remaining three sections of Haggai contain no more concrete exhortations but focus on further motivating the community to get on with the rebuilding of the temple. 1:15b–2:2 Seven weeks have passed since Haggai’s first message; halfway through this period the people began the actual work on the temple. That first message came on a day of special observance, it being the first day of the month; this second message came on a very significant day, the last day of the week of Sukkot, the eve of ...

2318. Four Horns and Four Craftsmen

Zechariah 1:18-21

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

Vision Report: Four Horns and Four Smiths: The next vision report is comparatively spare and simple. There is little action and the figures within the vision do not speak. Yet this vision addresses the question of fulfillment of prophecy, divine governance, and the unwelcome quiet reported in verse 15. The vision of four horns and four smiths portrays the missing step between God’s anger at “the nations that feel secure” and the restoration of Jerusalem God promised in the comforting words of verses 16–17 ...

2319. A Crown for Joshua

Zechariah 6:9-15

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

A Prophetic Sign-Act: A Crown for Joshua: The sequence of vision reports and oracles ends with the report of a symbolic action, the crowning of the Branch. Zechariah’s instructions from the Lord are somewhat like the commands to Samuel and to Elisha’s unnamed colleague to anoint kings. There were long waiting periods after the anointing of David and Jehu (1 Sam. 16:1–13; 2 Kgs. 9:1–13) before these chosen men were able to take their thrones (2 Sam. 5:1–5; 2 Kgs. 10:18–36). The delay in Zechariah’s case ...

2320. Two Shepherds

Zechariah 11:4-17

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

Prophetic Sign-Acts: Two Shepherds: Scholars regularly name this passage as one of the most difficult in the book. Part of the reason for this assessment is that it frustrates the reader’s initial expectations. It appears to be a narrative report of prophetic sign-acts commissioned by God and performed by the prophet, who narrates in the first person. The two commissions (vv. 4, 15) and divine words of judgment that interpret the sign-acts (vv. 6, 16) fit this pattern well. Yet God’s words of explanation ...

2321. The Day of Judgment

Malachi 2:17--3:5

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

The God of Justice Will Come: The fourth speech is closely related to the second (1:6–2:9) and the sixth (3:13–4:3). The opening accusation resembles the charge of “harsh” words in 3:13, and the people’s queries about God’s justice are also similar (cf. 2:17 and 3:15). Their words parallel the priests’ failure of discernment—crippled and diseased animals are acceptable as offerings (1:6) and “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD” (2:17). The second (1:6–2:9) and fourth speeches both deal with ...

2322. The Arrest of Jesus

John 18:1-11, John 18:12-14

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

Jesus’ exit with his disciples from the place where they had eaten supper (v. 1) corresponds to the notice in Mark (14:26) that “when they had sung a hymn, they went out” to Gethsemane and the Mount of Olives. Though John’s Gospel does not give the name “Gethsemane” to the place where they stopped, and though only John’s Gospel calls it a “garden” (RSV, GNB; Gr.: kēpos), it is clearly the same place and the same occasion (the NIV translation olive grove is based on the assumption that it is indeed “ ...

2323. The Second Appearance and Its Sequel

John 20:19-23, John 20:24-31

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

The scene shifts from the tomb in the garden to a locked room somewhere in Jerusalem, and from “early on the first day of the week” (v. 1) to the evening of that first day of the week (v. 19). Despite the faith of the beloved disciple (v. 8) and despite the message brought by Mary Magdalene (v. 18), the disciples as a group are still afraid. Their reaction to her message is not recorded in John’s Gospel, but another tradition appended to Mark by later scribes states that after Mary had seen Jesus she “went ...

2324. The Treaty of Beersheba

Genesis 21:22-34

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

The Treaty between Abraham and Abimelech: The report of Abimelech’s entering into covenant with Abraham is presented so tersely that it is hard to understand fully the transaction that takes place between them. The outer frame (vv. 22–24, 27, 31) describes the making of the covenant. In the heart of the story Abraham lodges a formal complaint against Abimelech’s servants for seizing a well he had dug (vv. 25–26, 28–30). Pressing his claim, Abraham achieves a pretrial settlement. Both men swear that Abraham ...

2325. Ishmael’s Sons

Genesis 25:12-18

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

Ishmael’s Lineage and Death: Since Abraham had great affection for Ishmael and since he played a major role in two different episodes, the tradition includes his lineage and obituary. As elsewhere in Genesis, the genealogy of the nonelect occurs before that of the elect (chs. 4, 36). 25:12–16 Ishmael’s genealogy (toledoth) is given. His sons numbered twelve like Nahor’s (22:20–24), Esau’s (36:9–14; cf. commentary on that text), and Jacob’s (35:22b–26). Twelve represents a complete tribal unit; thus all of ...

Showing results