Thoughts and Notes
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The King and His Kingdom
God’s covenant with David in 2 Samuel 7 is part of a larger Exodus pattern in David’s life. In the Exodus, Moses and Israel escaped from Pharaoh and came to a wilderness place. They were attacked by Amalekites, but they defeated them. Jethro, the Gentile priest blessed them and then the covenant was established and instructions…
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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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Kingdom of Peace
Isaiah 9 is a very familiar passage, “to us a child is born, to us a son is given.” And the government will be on the shoulders of this son, this child-king. Israel was in darkness, the darkness of the shadow of Assyria, which God was bringing against Israel as a flood. They would speak…
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The Heart with the Treasure
It’s easy to see the law as harsh and oppressive. Martin Luther counted it as an enemy sided with the flesh and the devil, set against us to destroy us. It’s understandable. We are sinners. We have broken the law. We carry guilt with us. So, when we read things like, if you turn away…
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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…
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Psalm 118
Psalm 118 opens and closes with “Oh give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!” The three divisions of the Old World – Israel, the Priests, and Gentile God-fearers – each in turn take up that refrain. Though the psalmist is distressed by what is going on around him,…
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Triumph of the King
Paul contends that through the cross, Christ disarmed and overcame all rulers and authorities, the principalities and powers of the world. This isn’t limited to demonic or evil human forces. He triumphed over the state, the family, the tribe and clan and nation so that he can say “all authority in heaven and on earth…
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A Time for Every Matter
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven The list that Solomon presents in Ecclesiastes 3 is all normal, everyday human activity. And the things listed here are often taken to be things that we arrange, as if the poem were telling us to make sure we do things…
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Song of Songs
The Song of Songs is both a mystery and a beauty. It is elusive, dancing lightly from image to image, and as such is difficult to get a solid hold of in any sort of narrative-historical or allegorical way. Even so, it has been counted by Jews and Christians throughout history as the height of…