Category: Genesis
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In the Day You Eat
God had said in the day you eat of [the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil], you shall surely die. They ate and didn’t die, not in that day. Their eyes were opened, they became like God, knowing good and evil. All this is even confirmed by God. It seems […]
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Thoughts on Pain and Suffering
How could a good God allow so much pain and suffering? I wonder how often this is asked in earnest. It seems to be a trump card, a get-out-of-thinking question, one that is played as unanswerable. The typical answers are something like either God is good but is powerless to stop the bad things, or […]
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Dry Bones
Ezekiel was a priest and a prophet of God during the Babylonian exile, when Judah was cast out of the land and Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. In chapter six, Ezekiel was told to prophecy to Israel, “Thus says the Lord Yahweh to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and […]
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Babel and Pentecost
Genesis 11:1 says, “Now the whole earth had one lip and the same words.” This “lip” refers to a common confession, a common religious belief. They built a city around their common culture and language, and they built a tower as a shrine with its head in the heavens for their common credo, “I believe […]
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Messianic King
Psalm 110 celebrates God’s gift of a messianic king over the people and the restoration from judgment*. It echoes themes from earlier in the Psalter. This king to whom Yahweh says, “sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool,” is the same one who received the commendation, “You are my Son; […]
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Suitable Helper
The solitude of man is the first thing God evaluates and declares not good. But, as with all His judgments, it is not merely a proclamation; He works in His judgment to bring a change. God divided the man to bring him a helper, to form culture and community. In one sense, there was not […]
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And to Your Offspring
Genesis 12 records the call of Abram and the beginning of his establishment as the father of many nations. God promises, “to your offspring I will give this land,” and later says, “I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be […]
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Light and glory
Isaiah wrote around the time of the collapse and captivity of the northern kingdom of Israel, but his dealings were with the kings of the south. He warned against the coming invasion of Assyria and the ultimate fall, exile, and restoration of a reunited Israel. In the beginning of chapter 60, he casts the restoration […]
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Filled with the Infinite
It is not a rare thing in the Old Testament that the surrounding nations are included as participants in the blessings and worship of Yahweh. Even in the promises to Abraham, God says that in him “all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” This promise is not just for the time after the […]
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From Nature to Culture
God established a pattern and rhythm for His creation from the very beginning. The earth began formless, empty, and dark but the heavens* served as a pattern after which man was to continue to shape and fill and light the earth. God established the rhythm of the day, of evening and morning, darkness and light […]