On Sunday, I mentioned that one of the ways I read the first portion of Genesis is through something I called The Creation Cycles. Here is a basic summary of the structure: The Earth Cycle (1-4) Opening Summary (1:1) Earth as Creation: The Annals (toledeth) of the Earth (1:2-2:4) Earth as Creature: The Annals of Adam (2:5-5:2) The… Read More »
King of Hopelessness, pt 1 (Ruth 1:1-2)
Introduction This morning, I am beginning a new series on the blog, studying probably my favorite book in the Scriptures, Ruth. In many ways, Ruth is something of a preface to the books of Samuel and Kings. It offers a slightly off beat look into the origins of David, the keystone of the entire narrative… Read More »
The Kingdom
Before we can talk about The Sermon, you need to hear it. Don’t just read it in your head, like an intellectual exercise. This kind of reading is entirely a Western thing, and I’m not sure it is an entirely good thing. Remember that Jesus spoke this, and it burned into the memory of the… Read More »
Imperfect Devotion
This week, I shared with the congregation my thoughts on God calling David “a man after my own heart.” (1 Samuel 13:14) I believe that in David’s case, the thing that made him “after God’s heart” was that he not only repented of his sins but actively grieved for the repercussions his sin had on… Read More »
Some Thoughts on GOLIAH OF GATH
And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. 6… Read More »
Comparing Saul and David
The contrasts between Saul and David appear throughout 1 Samuel. Here are just a few of them to consider along the way. Saul David Tribe Benjamin Judah Patronym Son of Kish Son of Jesse Description …a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his… Read More »
Chaos & Kings – Yahweh and Shaddai
In the Hebrew Scriptures, YHWH is undoubtedly the God of Judah. David adamantly demanded that the elders of all the sebetiy (tribes) follow him. The worship of YHWH was one of the strongest unifying forces of his rule, but also one of the most short lived. Although Judah remained, more or less, worshipers of YHWH,… Read More »
Resources for the Book of Ruth
This Sunday at Grace, we are going to looking at the journey of redemption and rebirth that is the Book of Ruth. Obviously, doing the entire story in one Sunday means that we have to be economical with our exploration of the book’s themes. Ruth is one of my favorite books of the Hebrew Scriptures,… Read More »
Resources for Chaos and Kings 2
Here is a link to a page that has a lot of information about the Sea People. Some of the conclusions are iffy, but it is a fairly exhaustive list of textual and archaeological evidence. http://www.salimbeti.com/micenei/sea.htm
Resources for Chaos & Kings
As mentioned during the message today, there is a lot of information we were not able to cover during the service. Why David Is So Important to Me Most people think of Moses or Abraham as the most important person in the Hebrew Scriptures, but I think it is actually David. He is the keystone… Read More »
