“And coming up Jesus talked with them saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” Matthew 28:18 Authority By Invitation Authority – The Great Commission, found in the very next verse, is not comprehensible unless we first settle the issue of authority. That’s why Jesus precedes his instruction about discipleship…
“and you shall be holy to Me, for I, the LORD, am holy and have set you apart from the nations to become Mine.” Leviticus 20:26 The Call To Be Like God Holy – When we shift our attention from the first occurrence of “holy” in this verse to the second, the verb remains the…
“and you shall be holy to Me, for I, the LORD, am holy and have set you apart from the nations to become Mine.” Leviticus 20:26 Family Resemblance Holy – If holiness means separation and consecration, does that mean that Christians are to retreat from the common into the sacred world? If God wants us…
“and you shall be holy to Me, for I, the LORD, am holy and have set you apart from the nations to become Mine.” Leviticus 20:26 Family Resemblance in Holiness Holy – It’s not about morality. The word qadash is exemplified best in Numbers 16:38. The story makes it clear. Holiness is about separation. Our…
“and you shall be holy to Me, for I, the LORD, am holy and have set you apart from the nations to become Mine.” Leviticus 20:26 Family Resemblance in Holiness Holy – I am always amazed to discover how little attention contemporary Christians give to the Old Testament law. I suspect this is the result…
“I am my beloved’s and his desire is for me” Song of Solomon 7:10 Three-fold Desire Desire – The love song of the Bible employs a special word to give depth to the intensity of passion. Found only three times in the Bible, this word takes on a different nuance in each occurrence. All three…
“For there was a deadly confusion throughout the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.” 1 Samuel 5:11 The Politics of God Deadly Confusion – If God abhors sin; do you think He sits idly by and watches evil have its way? If God hates evil, do you think He takes no part…
“But the LORD is with me like a dread champion” Jeremiah 20:11 Turning the Table on Oppression Dread Champion – God is ruthless too. The same word used to describe people without compassion in yesterday’s verse is used here to describe God Himself. God will never slack from the task nor will He ever show…
“And I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem you from the palm of the evil ones.” Jeremiah 15:21 Ruthless People Evil Ones – Yesterday we discovered that the single word ra (evil) covered all kinds of unholy things. So you might suspect that we would find the…
“And I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem you from the palm of the evil ones.” Jeremiah 15:21 Deliver Us From Evil Wicked – Jesus knew his Bible. He knew this passage in Jeremiah. Perhaps he had this passage in mind when he taught his disciples to…
