Our Response to Resistance Determines the Outcomes We Realize In the beginning of the book of Ezra we have the story of Zerubbabel, who under direction of King Cyrus, begins to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. His job is a noble one and backed by the full support of the Persian Empire and all that […]
Amon Did Evil in the Eyes of God and Did Not Humble Himself A reoccurring phrase in the books of 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles is about people who “did evil in the eyes of the Lord.” In these four books it appears thirty-two times, including eight times in 2 Chronicles. […]
King Rehoboam Made the Costly Mistake of Listening to His Friend’s Advice Rehoboam succeeds his father, Solomon, as king. He inherits a sweet situation of a nation experiencing peace, enjoying power, and basking in wealth. It is his merely to maintain. His detractor, Jeroboam, goes before him and asks for a reprieve for the people […]
Jesus Condemns Those Who Supersede the Word of God With Their Religious Practices Jesus asks the people, “Why do you break the command of God for the sake of your traditions?” (Matthew 15:3). He goes on to give an example that is culturally relevant to his audience, but which doesn’t connect so much with us […]
The People Did as They Saw Fit in the Book of Judges; Things Aren’t Much Different Today The book of Judges is a curious one, containing some really questionable content, especially toward the end of the book. The judges it highlights are a colorful bunch, some exhibiting quite dubious behavior. It boils down to leadership […]
God first comes to Abraham when he is still known as Abram. God tells him to leave all he knows and to go—somewhere—to a place God will later show him. The final destination is apparently on a need-to-know basis and Abram doesn’t need to know. If it were me, I’d want some details. Where are […]
We have an effect on everyone we meet. We can touch them in a positive way and leave them better off for whatever time we spend with them, or our interactions can have a negative impact and produce the opposite results. This might be at the store, how we drive, with our neighbors, during work, […]
There’s much about God we don’t know. For a society that craves knowledge and desires to fully understand things, what we don’t know about God can cause frustration. This keeps many people from embracing God. They want all their questions answered before they say “Yes” to Jesus and follow him. But that’s not faith. That’s […]
God gave the Promised Land to the descendants of Abraham, not because they deserved it, but to use them to punish other nations who were wicked. After he gave them the territory, their job was to drive out the other people (thereby punishing them). Though the nation of Israel did this to some extent, their […]
Last week we talked about Noah’s obedience and Moses’ boldness. Both actions were reflections of their faith: the faith to obey and the faith to confront. But what if Noah didn’t obey God, instead interceding for the people? If God changed his mind (as he did when Moses fasted and prayed), the great flood would […]