Living Stones: Replacing Temples and Priests Through Jesus we become his priests and his temple, which should change everything In the Old Testament the people go to the temple to encounter God. The priests help them in this. They act as a...
How to Confront Someone: Lead with a Story Nathan takes a wise approach when confronting David about his sins King David, a man after God’s own heart, is far from perfect. After the Bathsheba affair and the subsequent murder of her husband at the...
Those in Power Must Curb its Use or Risk Becoming Corrupted By It When leaders have absolute power they can commit terrible atrocities In the early days of the nation of Israel, a time under its first king, we witness a bad transition of...
Women in the Bible: Naomi God Takes Away Naomi’s Bitterness Over Losing Her Husband and Her Sons Naomi means pleasant. She, her husband, and their two sons leave their home country and travel to Moab because of a famine. While in Moab, her...
Deborah, the Judge and Hero Judge Deborah was a reluctant hero. Deborah, also a prophetess, received instructions from God to relay to Barak. His mission was to lead a battle against their oppressors. When she shared this with Barak, he balked...
Archippus is Encouraged to Complete His Work Archippus is mentioned twice in the Bible, both times in letters from Paul. First, in the letter to Philemon, Archippus is one of the addressees and is called “a fellow soldier.” Then in Paul’s letter...
Women in the Bible: Rahab Rahab is a prostitute who two spies stay with when they scope out Jericho. We don’t know if they seek her for her services, or if they merely want to get out of public view. When the king of Jericho commands Rahab to...
Bible Verses about Communion Discover What Scripture Says About the Lord’s Supper Last week we looked at the context of the Lord’s Supper, noting that Jesus based it on Passover, which is an annual event celebrated with family around a shared...
What Kind of Person Are You? Paul affirms Tychicus as a dear friend, faithful minister, and servant of God Tychicus is a character in the Bible who most people don’t know. His name occurs only five times, once in Acts and four times in Paul’s...
Be Careful What You Say: Advice for Prophets and to Us The book of Deuteronomy has a curious passage about prophecy. It teaches if a prophet says something God didn’t instruct him or her to say, the prophet must be executed. That should certainly...
