Category: NT
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Ark of the new covenant
Peter Leithart, in his The Four, posed the question, “What is Jeremiah’s point about the ark in Jeremiah 3:16? How does that fit with what we have learned about the ‘last days’?” And when you have multiplied and been fruitful in the land, in those days, declares the Lord, they shall no more say, “The…
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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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Rejected
Jeremiah 26 falls right in the middle of a series of messages given by God to the southern kingdom of Judah just before they are carried away into exile in Babylon. He gives them the opportunity to repent so that this disaster He has prepared for them might be turned aside. He threatens to make…
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Creation and redemption
Ben Merkle points out that in Psalm 33, “David looks at God’s power in creation and concludes that ‘all his work is done in truth’ and that ‘the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.’ The triune God is our maker, creating and upholding all things by the power of his Word and…
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Out of Egypt
Matthew draws heavily on the Exodus story when he recounts the events of the birth of Christ. Mathew quotes from Hosea 11:1, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.” This passage from Hosea is not overtly Messianic like Daniel’s vision of the Son of Man ruling on His throne forever or Isaiah’s prophecies of…
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The end will come
Matthew 24 begins with a proclamation by Jesus against the temple in Jerusalem, that not one stone would be left upon another. The rest of the chapter expounds on this judgment. Jesus says that these wars and famines and earthquakes are the beginning of birth pains, but then goes on to say that tribulation and apostasy and…
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The thunder echoes back
Man has been given the charge, “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it,” or to put it another way, “go disciple the nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey.” Until we can bring back the report, “we have filled and subdued,” or, “we have discipled and baptized,” there is a great sense…
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Sons of the King
Proverbs 16:31 through 17:6 are book-ended with references to crowns of glory, the wisdom of age that is gained in a righteous life. This glory is shared between generations, as Peter Leithart points out, “Old men are crowned by having grandchildren. Through grandchildren, old men can reach into a future they will never live to…
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Robbing the poor
Jeff Myers noted a common misconception in the reading of the passage of the widow’s contribution in Mark 12. This is commonly taken as a great example of sacrificial giving because she gave all she had. But what comes next? Jesus leaves the temple and pronounces its doom, “Do you see these great buildings? There…
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Servant-kings
Moses didn’t just stand up on the mountain to give the law. He sat with the people and took on the burden of hearing and judging their individual cases. When God was angry with the sin of the people, Moses prayed that God would blot him out of His book rather than destroy the people. The blessing…