Psalm 45; The Torah or Old Testament Scriptures provided a wide variety of indicators to recognize the arrival of the long awaited Messiah. One of the prominent books of prophesy was the collection of hymns we call the Psalms. Devout Israelites engaged various psalms in their regular worship, but the connection to Jesus was denied […]
Colossians 3:12-17; Last week we unpacked an OT psalm of thanksgiving, so it was fitting to prepare for our national day of thanks by unpacking a NT passage focused on gratitude to the Lord for all He has done for us. Paul writes both exhortation and admonition to the church in Colossae, urging them to […]
Psalm 66:1-20; Taking a seasonal break from the ongoing Light and Darkness series, we unpacked the psalmist’s call for songs of joy and praise to God. This psalm focuses first on the nature of ‘General Revelation’….the reality that nature reveals the handprint of God. Then narrowing down to the Lord’s work through Israel and even […]
Numbers 23:1-26
Numbers 22:21-41; The second installment of the Balaam narrative, where the pagan seer leaves for Moab with the Moabite digintaries and incurs the anger of Yahweh-God. Three times the angel of the LORD stood unseen in Balaam’s path, but he was saved by the spiritual sight of his donkey. After beating the animal for the […]
Luke 16:19-31; Sickness, suffering and death are repeated themes in Scripture, as the curse of sin applies to all humanity. Jesus related the topic of death to His own mission of atonement, as well as instructing those who would listen that there were only two eventualities following the death of an individual…..heaven or hell. Christ’s […]
Numbers 22:1-20; After twice defeating Amorite kings who attacked them, Israel temporarily settled in captured towns as they looked northward towards Moab. Balak, the king of Moab, was fearful of an Israelite invasion and sent emmisaries to hire a pagan prophet to curse God’s people. Balaam received the foreign messengers, then consulted the God of […]