Category: John Calvin
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In all things preeminent
In Colossians 1, Paul overflows in his description of the power and position of Christ. He is the image of the invisible God He is the firstborn of all creation By Him all things were created He is before all things In Him, all things hold together He is the head of the body He […]
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Wrestling God
The story of Jacob wrestling with God in Genesis 32 is difficult to get a handle on. The narrative is interrupted rather abruptly by Jacob wrestling with this man who just appears from nowhere. It’s the only time that this word for “wrestling” is used and the only place where someone has this kind of […]
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A new people, a new temple
Everett Fox, in his translation of the five books of Moses, points out that covenants were widely used to establish political relationships between kings and vassals, granting privileges and obligations for the parties involved. But no other ancient society “conceived of the possibility that a god could ‘cut a covenant’ with a people.” Calvin writes, “and […]
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All trifles vanish
And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. Malachi 2:15 God’s relationship with man is entirely covenantal. Deuteronomy 6 has come up several times in the Old Testament readings and it covers some very foundational […]
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Sex and the Bible
In Leviticus, the people are gathered at Sinai to receive the law. Chapter 18 deals with various sexual relationships and is bookended with God’s call for His people to set themselves apart from the practices of Egypt, which they had just left, and from those of Canaan, the place Yahweh was bringing them to. The list of […]