Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1 to 25 of 117 results

1. Nabuchadnezzar’s Dream and Daniel's Interpretation

Daniel 2:1-23, Daniel 2:24-49

Teach the Text

Ronald W. Pierce

... 19; 5:12; 10:1). This presents an interesting contrast with the sole use of the pagan names of his three friends throughout chapter 3. The repetition of the king’s twofold demand (cf. 2:5) sets this text in parallel with the king’s exchange with the failed sages (2:8–11). What they cannot do, Daniel’s God is able to accomplish (cf. the similar exchange in 3:15, 17, 29). 2:27–28 No wise man . . . can explain to the king the mystery . . . but there is a God in heaven. The text adds a fifth group ...

2. Eliphaz's Second Speech to Job

Job 15:1-35

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... Job, in an apparent reply to Job’s denial that his knowledge or wisdom is in any way inferior to that of the friends (12:1; 13:1). So Eliphaz asks, what could Job know, what insights might he have that the friends, and indeed all generations of sages, do not already know? The obvious answer—one that Eliphaz will not admit is possible—is that Job knows his own heart. He knows that he is innocent of any great evil deserving of the suffering he receives from God. This the reader knows as well. But for ...

3. Job’s Reply to Zophar

Job 12:1--14:22

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... cumulative attack. The phrase you are the people seems awkward in English, but in Hebrew it has the sense of “everyone,” or at least “everyone that counts!” The friends are acting, Job implies, as if they have attained a wisdom that exceeds that of all the sages in the world. As a result, in their arrogance, they assume that without them wisdom will die and cease to exist. This is certainly an extreme way of saying that any viewpoint besides one’s own has no validity. 12:3 But Job demands that the ...

4. The Writing on the Wall

Daniel 5:1-31

Teach the Text

Ronald W. Pierce

... a passage also written by a queen mother speaking to a son).5 5:11–12 a man in your kingdom . . . he will tell you what the writing means. The specificity of “your kingdom” suggests Belshazzar should be aware of Daniel’s value as a sage. Daniel may need such an introduction because he is less active (now in his eighties), or because new rulers want their own advisors, or because Belshazzar ignores Daniel as part of his rebellion and sacrilege against the God of the Jews. The last option fits this ...

5. Elihu

Job 32:1--37:24

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... : since God is incapable of wrong, whatever Job experiences from the hand of God is just. 34:10 So listen to me, you men of understanding. Again, Elihu directs his comments not to Job, but to the council of Job’s friends (or some large group of sages), united in judgment against him. In a sense Job is experiencing his day in court and the human judges arrayed before him are no less implacable in their opposition to his case than Job had imagined God to be (9:14–21). The “men of understanding” are ...

6. Job's Third Reply to Bildad

Job 26:1--31:40

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... wicked perish—it is as simple as that—and since Job is suffering, he must have departed somehow from the way of life to which he needs to return. In Job’s mouth, the words of chapter 28 stand firmly against the common assumptions of the sages that the three friends represent. As we will soon see, all the skill, diligence, and bravery of determined humans are ultimately of no avail in wresting an understanding of wisdom from the creation. 28:12–14 But where can wisdom be found? This segment of the ...

7. Obey the King

Ecclesiastes 8:2-17

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Huwiler

... incomparable? The last half of the verse suggests an answer. Wisdom brightens one’s face and alters its hard appearance. The value of this change in the sage’s face is not specified and the reader might well suppose that Qohelet is ambivalent about it (contrast 9:7–10 with 7:1–6). Verses 2–11 deal with power, first the specific instance of royal power (8:2–6), and then the more generalized situation of humans having ...

8. Zophar's Second Speech to Job

Job 20:1-29

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... (and final!) speech, makes little attempt to respond to the words Job has just spoken. After an initial angry reaction to what he perceives as Job’s attempts to “discipline” (NIV rebuke, at the beginning of v. 3) an already established group of sages, he launches into a traditional wisdom discourse on the fate of the wicked. His obvious assumption is that Job is firmly entrenched in this category and has little, if any, chance of avoiding a similar fate. Thus his speech is less a cautionary warning ...

9. Warning Against the Adulteress

Proverbs 7:1-27

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

... to be highlighted is described as dressed as a harlot (v. 10) and she is clearly married (v. 19). But the image of the “strange woman” is a symbol in all these chapters regardless of the details of the example story in 7:6–27. 7:6–27 The sage launches into a rather dramatic description of a scene that is played out in public. We should not, however, bother to ask how he was able to see and hear all this through his lattice, or how he fastened his gaze on a particular youth who lacked judgment. The ...

10. Wisdom's Call

Proverbs 8:1-36

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

... , yielding an instruction more precious than silver or gold. On v. 11 see Additional Notes. 8:12–21 A strong I (repeated in v. 14) initiates this part of the discourse and imparts to Woman Wisdom an authority greater than that of a sage who merely communicates wisdom. She is Wisdom and associates other aspects of wisdom with herself (vv. 12–14). Indeed she resembles the Lord in her detestation of evil. On verse 13 see Additional Notes. She possesses the qualities which are associated with the spirit ...

11. Invitation of Wisdom and of Folly

Proverbs 9:1-18

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

... ). Thus, she has her house of seven pillars, which she has built. It is reasonable to presume that this narrative is uttered by the sage (as in 1:20–21 and 8:1–3). It is difficult to fit in the significance of the house. But there is no ... blunt. This is the intention of the writer who wants to paint Woman Folly at her best/worst. 9:18 This verse is a reflection of the sage author; it reaches back to the house of death indicated in 2:19 and 7:27. How appropriate to close on the note of Sheol! Excursus: ...

12. Proverbs of Solomon

Proverbs 13:1-25

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

... a certain paradoxical aspect in this love/hate relationship (cf. 3:11–12). Corporal punishment is a frequent recommendation of the sages (cf. 19:18; 23:13–14; Sir. 30:1–13). 13:25 Antithetic. This saying flows from the understanding of divine ... by reading the Hb. word mbhl, in place of mhbl. Then the antithesis to little by little is clear. In the doctrine of the sages, anything that is acquired hastily is suspect—it will not be appreciated, or else it may have been acquired wrongfully (cf. 20:21; 28 ...

13. Bread Upon the Water

Ecclesiastes 9:13--12:8

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Huwiler

... verses of the segment expand themes raised earlier. The assertion that nobody remembered (9:15) gives a specific example of a general theme raised in 1:11 and 2:16. The limitation of the value of wisdom over strength (9:16) challenges the claim that one sage is more powerful than ten rulers (7:19). The last two verses (9:17–18) are transitional. They are linked to the preceding story because they note the potential, but not always realized, value of wisdom over weapons of war. In both theme (a little bad ...

14. Bildad

Job 8:1-22

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... kheqer) of one’s predecessors is the foundation of the wisdom enterprise. The experiences and observations of generations of sages, gathered over the ages, were thought to provide ever greater understanding of the divine ordering of the world and ... we know nothing. The insubstantial and ephemeral nature of human life (our days on earth are but a shadow) prevents individual sages from hoping to gain clear insight into the workings of the world. The tension Bildad describes, between those who would preserve ...

15. The Writing on the Wall

Daniel 5:1-31

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... concludes by reviewing the proffered rewards: purple clothing, a gold chain, and promotion to third highest ruler, or perhaps appointment to high office (5:16; see the commentary and Additional Note on 5:7). He omits the queen’s mention of Daniel’s promotion to chief sage (5:11; 2:48; 4:9). 5:17–29 Daniel is not interested in rewards. He says boldly, almost rudely, to the king, “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else” (5:17); Daniel had been more polite to King ...

16. Nebuchadnezzar’s Testimony and Tree Dream

Daniel 4:1-18

Teach the Text

Ronald W. Pierce

... 2:1), his kingdom is one of several ultimately replaced by God’s kingdom (2:36–45). Here, he personally is threatened with divine judgment for sinning against the God of heaven (4:26–27). Compared to the prolonged drama in 2:2–13, the sages in this narrative are told the dream but cannot, or will not, interpret it—perhaps due to its negative implications. Their failure sets the stage for Daniel’s entrance. Although the Septuagint omits verses 6–7, making it appear that Daniel comes first, the ...

17. Daniel in the Den of Lions

Daniel 6:1-28

Teach the Text

Ronald W. Pierce

... worship. Daniel first resolves not to defile himself in a hostile environment during his midteens (1:8) and now remains unshaken in his regular practice of prayer and thanksgiving in his early eighties. Call your listeners to look beyond the example of the elderly sage to the motives for his behavior centered in the worthiness of the God he serves. Recount and reflect on the aspects of God’s character that warrant such costly obedience: he is able to rescue because he is sovereign; he cares in our times ...

18. Job's Second Reply to Zophar

Job 21:1-34

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... act or to judge. And yet, the fact is that such wicked arrogance and injustice continues unchecked and untested in the face of God, who is the Almighty! 21:1–3 As we have seen before, Job is no stranger to sarcasm. In the tradition of the sages he can trade barbs and biting satire with the best. Listen carefully to my words. In an opening sortie that recalls the original intent of the three friends to “sympathize with” Job “and comfort him” (2:11), Job calls his talkative friends to return to the ...

19. Eliphaz's Third Speech to Job

Job 22:1-30

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... to offer any “benefit” to God. The second question raises the stakes by introducing maskil as its subject. This term describes one who is particularly skilled in wisdom understanding. If the strongest warrior is unable to influence God, and even the wisest sage (particularly revered by Job and his friends) has no affect on God’s judgments, then God’s decrees must surely remain unimpeachable. 22:3 Eliphaz continues with two additional queries that extend the emphasis of the first verse and link more ...

20. Daniel’s Training in Babylon

Daniel 1:1-21

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... favor so that he could avoid defilement, and who gave the four Jewish youths wisdom with the result that they outshone all the other sages of Babylon. This would have been a very encouraging message to Jews living under oppressive kings, such as the Seleucids in the second ... by the king, they graduated at the top of their class. That being said, when Daniel excelled in his role as sage and counselor, he did not do so through human wisdom, much less through the media of Babylonian divination. Rather, the one ...

21. Nebuchadnezzer’s Dream of a Tree

Daniel 4:1-18

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... the gods dwell with humans (2:11), but Daniel proves them wrong. The king remembers this and is confident that the Jewish sage will come through again. Daniel 4 is reminiscent of the Joseph story, where after interpreting Pharaoh’s dream, Joseph is described as “ ... everything over. Finally, it is worth noting that verses 6–9, which tell of the attempt and failure of the Babylonian sages, are not in the Septuagint. It is possible that the Greek tradition preserves the original text and that verses 6–9 ...

22. Daniel Interprets the Dream

Daniel 2:24-49

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... take place in the future (2:45). Israel’s God can predict and determine what is to be. By emphasizing God’s role, the text holds the phony dream interpreters and their pantheon up to ridicule. Not only is the counsel of the Babylonian sages unreliable; it is “misleading and wicked” (2:9). In contrast, this dream from God is true and its interpretation is trustworthy (2:45). Similarly, the heavenly being later tells Daniel, “The vision of the evenings and mornings that has been given you is true ...

23. Proverbs of Solomon

Proverbs 15:1-33

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

... 23:22). Foolish man is, literally, “a fool of a man” (cf. Gen. 16:12). 15:21 Antithetic. The serious resolve of the wise contrasts with the light-headedness of the fool. 15:22 Antithetic and chiastic. See 11:14. On all sides, public or private, the sages urge listening to advice. 15:23 Synonymous and chiastic; verse 23b specifies and completes verse 23a. The emphasis is on the speaker, who not only gives good advice, but gives it at the right time (see also 25:11). The proper time (Gk. kairos) in speech ...

24. Proverbs of Solomon

Proverbs 16:1-33

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

... latter, 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 ...

25. Proverbs of Solomon

Proverbs 17:1-28

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

... verse can mean that the wicked man takes the bribe from his own bosom to give it to an unjust official. In 17:8 the effect of bribery was the point; here it is the evil intent. 17:24 Antithetic. The saying contrasts the concentration of the sage with the lack of it in the fool, who is distracted and looking everywhere but to wisdom. 17:25 Synonymous. See the comment on 17:21. On the style of this saying, see McCreesh, Sound, pp. 81–82. 17:26 Synonymous parallelism; verse 26b heightens verse 26a. Flogging ...

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