Psalm 41 – Derek: Meditating on the Way
Who is favored or “happy”? Psalm 41 teaches it is the one who considers the poor and lives with integrity despite their own failings. Such people are assaulted by enemies, particularly cosmic powers,...
View ArticleRuler and Remnant (Micah 5:2-15)
Micah envisions the coming of a Davidic ruler who is peace. That reign will extend to the ends of the earth and mean that everyone will live in security and prosperity. Yet, before that time arrives, a...
View ArticlePsalm 21 — Derek: Meditating on the Way
Psalm 21 is a royal Psalm that locates the king’s strength in Yahweh’s steadfast love. Yahweh saves and blesses the king of Israel because the king trusts in the steadfast love of the Lord. Yahweh...
View ArticlePsalm 20 – Derek: Meditating on the Way
“Some nations boast of their chariots and horses but we boast in the name of the LORD our God.” Psalm 20:7. Israel prays for their king but trusts Yahweh to provide rather than military might. Israel...
View ArticlePsalm 148 — Derek: Meditating on the Way
“Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah”–it was #148 in my hymnbook growing up. I loved singing it because it called even “dragons” to praise the Lord (according to KJV). The hymn is based on Psalm 148. Psalm 148...
View ArticlePsalm 144 – Derek: Meditating on the Way
Psalm 144 prays for God’s rescue and salvation. The prayer depends on God’s steadfast love and past redemptive acts (Sinai and Exodus) for the victory of God’s king over the nations ruled by lies and...
View ArticlePsalm 132 – Derek: Meditating on the Psalms
Bobby Valentine and John Mark Hicks discuss what they call the “theological anchor” of the Songs of Ascents. The pilgrimage to Mt. Zion to assemble with the people of God is grounded in the Lord’s oath...
View ArticleLesson 5: The Central Theological Claim (Ephesians 2:11-22)
This is the “key and high point of the whole epistle” (Barth, Ephesians, 1:275). Though the gentiles were once foreigners and aliens from the commonwealth and strangers to the covenants of promise,...
View ArticlePsalm 45 — Derek: Meditating on the Way
Abby Kaplan joins Bobby Valentine and John Mark Hicks to talk about Psalm 45. This royal wedding song has both an original significance in Israel and a messianic meaning. The Psalm, sung by Israel,...
View ArticleLesson 15: A Better Sacrifice
Hebrews 9:11-28 But when Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation), he entered once...
View ArticleLesson 12: Hebrews 7:11-28
Unlike Other High Priests Now if perfection had been attainable through the levitical priesthood—for the people received the law under this priesthood—what further need would there have been to speak...
View ArticleResurrected and Enthroned Lord: Filling the Earth with New Creatures
Texts: Luke 24:30-35; Matthew 28:18-20; Ephesians 1:20-23; Galatians 6:14-16 Days 52-55 in Around the Bible in Eighty Days. We can only imagine the despair of the disciples in the crushing darkness of...
View ArticleJesus Pivots Toward the Cross: Revelation, Transfiguration, and Mission
Texts: Luke 9:18-22, 28-36; 10:17-20; Mark 10:41-45 Days 40-43 in Around the Bible in Eighty Days. At some point near the end of his ministry in Galilee and other northern regions, Jesus “set his face...
View ArticleIsrael Redux: The Messiah Begins His Ministry
Texts: Luke 3:21-22; Luke 4:1-2a, Luke 4:16-21; Matthew 4:13-17 Days 33-36 in Around the Bible in Eighty Days. Israel needed a do-over. Humanity needed a do-over. The Messiah comes to recapitulate the...
View ArticleGod’s Gifts to Israel
Texts: Romans 9:4-5; Psalm 19:7-10; Romans 3:1-2 Days 20-22 in Around the Bible in Eighty Days. God chose Israel from among the nations as God’s own firstborn. As firstborn, Israel was tasked with...
View ArticleOn Reading Philemon
Philemon is a brief letter with only 335 words in the Greek text, and it appears in the New Testament without any specific context. Philemon and Onesimus, the main characters in the letter’s story, are...
View ArticleThe First Advent (Exodus 40:34-38)
Mount Sinai must have been an impressive, even startling, sight. Enveloped in darkness with flashes of lightning, Israel heard the thunder and even, on one occasion, the voice of God. They felt the...
View ArticlePsalm 2 – God Reigns Over the Nations
Psalm 1 counseled wisdom. Worshippers, as they pray, mediate and sing the Psalms, align themselves with the way of righteousness. Psalm 2 assures these worshippers that Yahweh reigns and even the...
View ArticleOn Reading Philemon
Philemon is a brief letter with only 335 words in the Greek text, and it appears in the New Testament without any specific context. Philemon and Onesimus, the main characters in the letter’s story, are...
View ArticleThe First Advent (Exodus 40:34-38)
Mount Sinai must have been an impressive, even startling, sight. Enveloped in darkness with flashes of lightning, Israel heard the thunder and even, on one occasion, the voice of God. They felt the...
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